Hey There!
my name is Kiana
Small-town Michigan girl. Classically trained violinist turned internationally touring fiddler. Teacher, entrepreneur, new mama, and firm believer that the best musical lives rarely follow the path you thought they would.
Very into: killer folk music, creative freedom, effective practice, big ideas, fruit pies, and really good coffee.
I NEVER THOUGHT I’D:
PERFORM TO 50 MILLION PEOPLE ON LIVE TV
RECORD FOUR #1 ALBUMS
TOUR THE WORLD PLAYING TO SOLD OUT HALLS
FOUND A COMPANY TO CHANGE THE FUTURE OF STRING EDUCATION
BUILD MY DREAM BAND WITH MY HUSBAND
…BUT HERE WE ARE!
THE LONG WAY AROUND
I grew up on a farm outside Chelsea, Michigan, and started violin lessons when I was seven. I did everything a serious young classical violinist was supposed to do — youth orchestras, competitions, conservatory training, and eventually a violin performance degree at the University of Michigan.
And somewhere along the way, I realized I didn't want the musical life I thought I was training for.
At 19, I drove to Chicago for an open-call audition for the touring violin show Barrage. It felt slightly ridiculous. I went anyway.
I got the job.
That one decision changed the course of my life.
Since then, music has taken me around the world: touring internationally with Barrage, spending five years as the fiddler in Gaelic Storm, recording four Billboard No. 1 albums, performing as a guest with Carlos Núñez, and originating the fiddle chair on the First National Tour of Broadway's Come From Away.
But the most important thing I found along the way wasn't a particular stage or accolade.
I found another way to be a violinist.
Fiddle music gave me something I had been searching for throughout my classical training: freedom. The freedom to learn by ear, improvise, groove, make mistakes, play with people, and eventually discover what I actually sounded like.
That discovery has shaped almost everything I've built since — as a performer, a teacher, and an entrepreneur.
THE CHAPTER I'M IN NOW
These days, a lot of my life revolves around two things: making music I love and building a life that leaves room for the people I love.
I'm a founding member of Howley, alongside David and Martin Howley and Caitlin Leahy — four longtime friends and musicians bringing together Irish traditional music, American folk music, and years of lives lived on both sides of the Atlantic.
In 2026, we released our debut album, Joy, recorded live in the room while I was eight months pregnant with my son, Ronan. Making that record — and becoming a mother — changed something in me. I'm increasingly interested in building a creative life not around doing more, but around choosing the work, music and people that matter most.
I'm still touring. I'm still teaching. I'm still endlessly curious about how musicians learn and how we build sustainable lives in the arts.
But I'm doing all of it with a little more intention these days.
And, preferably, with good coffee nearby.
WHAT BROUGHT YOU HERE?
I WANT TO BRING KIANA TO MY PROGRAM
Clinics, workshops + residencies
I WANT TO LEARN
Private coaching + Fiddle Club
I'M HERE FOR THE MUSIC
Howley, recordings, performances
The Artist BIO
Kiana has been touring professionally since age 19
CLASSICALLY TRAINED - FIDDLE FUELED
A once in a generation musician and public figure who combines her classical training with her love for American and Irish folk music.
Kiana graduated early with a BM in violin performance from the University of Michigan SMTD, and gave the commencement speech to her graduating class. At only 19, she was scouted by the violin troupe Barrage and toured internationally for three years. In 2012 she made a splash as the fiddler player in Celtic music’s favorite band, Gaelic Storm, with whom she recorded 4 Billboard world No.1 albums. In 2017 she left the band to pursue her own career and toured as a special guest with Grammy award-winning artist, Carlos Nunez. In 2018 she originated the role of fiddle on the First National tour of Broadway’s hit Come From Away.
Kiana is an educator par excellence, with a unique pedagogic philosophy that yields measurable success in all learning styles. She founded her own company to further contemporary violin education. American-born and having spent many years in the West of Ireland, Kiana tours internationally much of the year and enjoys openly sharing her experience.