Annika Kounts, from Seattle, USA, is a member of the first violin section in the Staatsorchester Kassel (State Opera in Kassel, Germany). As an orchestral musician she has played with the NDR Hannover, Hannover Staatsoper, and Dortmund Philharmoniker. She has also performed at various international festivals in Europe and the U.S. as a member of the Verbier Festival Orchestra, Schleswig Holstein Music Festival Academy Orchestra, and the Music Academy of the West. She is currently based in Seattle, and performs regularly with the Pacific Northwest Ballet Orchestra. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Violin Performance from Indiana University, where she was a student of Mauricio Fuks, and a Master’s in Music from the Hochschule für Musik, Theater, und Medien Hannover, where she studied with Elisabeth Kufferath.