Ken Hashimoto

Ken Hashimoto began playing cello at age 4. He spent time as a cello performance major at Peabody Conservatory and the College Conservatory of Music, University of Cincinnati, but after a two-year detour through the physics department, he eventually graduated with degrees in history and international relations. Thereafter, Ken moved to Los Angeles, where (while working as a teacher and in education non-profits) he played as a freelance bassist and cellist on live and recorded sessions—mostly with pop/rock bands and singer-songwriters. Ken took a three-year break from playing music while working in the Balkans on an international development project, but then moved to New York City and earned a law degree, and also resumed playing with bands at venues such as Symphony Space, Carnegie Hall, Bowery Ballroom, Joe’s Pub, and Mass MOCA. Inspired by his older daughter’s cello studies, Ken returned to playing classical music, studying and performing cello sonatas with the Alaria program, and playing with the Greenwich Village Orchestra, the New York Repertory Orchestra, the String Orchestra of Brooklyn and the Park Avenue Chamber Symphony. He now plays and performs regularly in quartets and chamber groups, including the SORA Quartet, and plays frequently with the String Orchestra of Brooklyn. Ken is also a Managing Counsel in the litigation department at the Bank of New York Mellon.