Simin Ganatra is first violinist of the Pacifica Quartet. She is also professor of violin and chair of the String Department at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music. She has won wide recognition for her performances throughout the United States and abroad, performing numerous times in such prestigious venues as Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall, the Kennedy Center, Wigmore Hall, the Concertgebeouw in Amsterdam, and Carnegie’s Zankel Hall. Collaborations include performances with YoYo Ma, Anthony McGill, Lynn Harrell, and Menahem Pressler among others. She is the recipient of several awards and prizes, including two Grammy awards, the Naumburg Chamber Music Award, the Cleveland Quartet Award, and top prizes at the Concert Artists Guild Competition, the Coleman Chamber Music Competition, the Pasadena Instrumental Competition, and the Schubert Club Competition.

Originally from Los Angeles, Ganatra studied with Idell Low, Robert Lipsett, and Roland and Almita Vamos. She was previously professor at the University of Illinois, Champaign/ Urbana, Northwestern University and the University of Chicago. She has many recordings on the Cedille Records label, including the complete String Quartets of Felix Mendelssohn, Elliot Carter, and Dmitri Shostakovich. During the summer she serves on the faculty of the Aspen Music Festival and School.