Violist Beste Tiknaz Modiri was born in Istanbul. Tıknaz is a winner of many national and international prizes and awards, such as the ICMEC Competition (Gold Medal) and the MTNA Young Artists Concert Competitions. Tiknaz Modiri began her musical education with Ani Inci at the Istanbul University State Conservatory and continued with Leonard Matczynski at the Boston Conservatory of Music.
She frequently performs as a soloist with orchestras and gives recitals both nationally and internationally, including in such spaces as Carnegie Hall, Queen Elisabeth, and the Royal Albert Halls. As an active chamber music player, she has been a featured musician in many prestigious music festivals, including Aix-en-Provence, Associazione Mozart Italia, Istanbul International Music Festival, Beethoven Fest , BBC Proms , Salzburg Festival, Budapest Spring Fest, and the Apple Hill Chamber Music Festival. Beste is currently a professor at Istanbul University State Conservatory and is the principal violist of the Philarmonisches Kammerorchester Berlin and Orchestra Sion. Summers are spent teaching at the Point Counter Point in Vermont, the Apple Hill Center for Chamber Music in New Hampshire, and the Chichibu Festival in Japan, as well as at several festivals throughout Italy. Beste is also Artistic Director and cofounder of the Bosphorus International Music Academy. She plays a ‘1883 Gand and Bernardel’ viola.