Kaori Yamagami is a graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music where she was accepted at the age of 13, the New England Conservatory of Music, and the Hochschule für Musik Cologne. She has been a recipient of the Canada Council for the Arts Virginia Parker Prize, and a prizewinner at the International Rostropovich Competition and Tchaikovsky International Competition. She recently served as First Cello of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, and for nine years led the celli of the Amsterdam Sinfonietta. Yamagami has guest-led the Mahler Chamber Orchestra and the Basel Kammerorchester, and is a member of the Utopia Orchestra. She has performed at the Verbier Festival and the Chamber Music Connects the World Festival at Kronberg Academy, where she also served as chamber music coach. Yamagami dedicates a portion of her year to historical performances, and earlier this year, performed with baroque ensembles at the Salzburg Festspiele.