Lauded by The Strad for her ‘thrilling and exuberant’ Royal Festival Hall debut, Shiry Rashkovsky pursues an international and diverse career.

Her recording of Kate Whitley’s Viola Concerto (dedicated to her) with the Multi-Story Orchestra and Christopher Stark for NMC Recordings was hailed as ‘fearless’ by the Guardian, while her EP, ‘Erlkönig/Erl-King’ (October House Records) was featured on BBC Radio 3’s ‘New Music Show’. She regularly performs in the world’s greatest concert halls, and has broadcast for BBC1, 2 and 4, WQXR, and RAI.

In demand as a chamber musician, Shiry is invited to international festivals including Prussia Cove Open Chamber Music, where she has performed with Adrian Brendel, Ian Brown, Thomas Gould, Viviane Hagner, Pekka Kuusisto, Min Jin Kym and David Waterman, among others. She has broadcast live in ensemble with Shmuel Ashkenasi, Atar Arad, Stephan Barratt-Due, Vadim Gluzman, Rudolf Koelman, Shlomo Mintz; performed with Sacconi Quartet; and has featured in Cadogan Hall’s ‘Rising Stars’ series. She is a founding member of Trio Klein, whose groundbreaking ‘80s Night’ programme, which draws inspiration from night clubs has been featured on BBC Radio 3. They were Artists in Residence at University of Surrey in 2023/2024, and will be releasing their debut EP in 2025.

Dedicated to innovation in programming, Shiry is the founder and Artistic Director of Up Close and Musical, which in its inaugural year, 2021, featured some of the biggest names in the classical, jazz and electronica scenes, and has been featured in Classical Music Magazine, The Strad, BBC Radio 3, Scala Radio and other major outlets. The festival has enjoyed sold-out performances by genre-defying artists including Abel Selaocoe, Hélöise Werner, Gabriel Prokofiev, Chi-chi Nwanoku, Alice Zawadzki, Chloë Hanslip, Huw Watkins, Clare Hammond, and Misha Mullov-Abbado, among others.

Shiry has recently commissioned: viola/voice duo composed by and recorded with Héloïse Werner; a words-and-music programme by Jessica Duchen celebrating the cross-cultural friendship between Ralph Vaughan Williams and Jewish violist Lionel Tertis, recently performed at Three Choirs Festival and featured in The Strad and on Scala Radio; a viola and electronics duo by Ben Nobuto; and a viola quintet by Errollyn Wallen (generously supported by the Vaughan Williams Foundation, Hinrichsen Foundation and Marchus Trust).

A dedicated pedagogue, she has given masterclasses internationally, was appointed to the string Faculty at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama in 2024, and has taught viola at Royal Holloway, University of London, since 2013. Shiry read Social and Political Sciences at St Catharine’s College, Cambridge, and obtained her MMus and ArtDip at RCM, studying with Ian Jewel.