In 2001, Kirsten was honored to receive the Spirit of Moondance Award for Film Score, which she accepted at the 2001 Moondance Film Festival. Kirsten has also received annual awards from ASCAP since 1990.
In addition to her film scoring work, Kirsten has worked as a session cellist in the Los Angeles Recording Music Industry since 1990. She has recorded for over 200 movies, television shows and commercials. Among the prominent composers she has recorded for are David Newman, Hans Zimmer, the late Michael Kamen. Alan Menken and Richard Marvin in films such as X-Men, Ice Age, Last Samurai, 101 Dalmations, Alladin… She has recorded for TV shows like Futurama, King Of the Hill, Star Trek, Jag, Columbo, and Murder She Wrote. She has recorded on records for Kenny G, Jewel, and Callahan. In addition, she has recorded jingles for Miller Beer, Applebees, Home Depot, Lexus, and more. Kirsten has substituted with the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, Pacific Symphony and the Las Vegas Symphony.
Previous to composing for film, Kirsten wrote music for the dance and concert world in New York. She was a composer in residence at the American Dance Festival where she composed a score for the June Watanabe Dance Company. She composed a second score for this company in 1990 for a large scale work which premiered in San Francisco in 1990. She has also composed for the Keith Young Dance Co, Neolabos Dancetheatre (5 commissions), choreographer Carol McDowell and has received awards and grants from the American Music Teachers Assoc., the Jerome Foundation, and Meet the Composer. Her work has been performed at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, the Whitney Museum, PS 122, and throughout Europe.
Kirsten is one of few cellists to perform and record on the Zeta Midi Cello, which she has used on her own scores as well as numerous record projects including tracks on records for Michel Polnareff, Guns & Roses, the band Alchemy and for the films The Reunion and Love Notes, for which she also composed the scores.
Another aspect of Kirsten’s career is her screen appearances as a musician in films such as the recent Adam Sandler movie Click, the upcoming film Walk Hard, the TV shows Frasier (3 appearances), Beverly Hills 90210, and Wings (for which she was also a body/hand double). She has also been featured on Celine Dion’s TV specials, Got My Bush, Lexus commercials, music videos for Jewel, Vanessa Carlton. She was a featured performer on the Ray Charles Diet Pepsi Commercials in 1992.
Kirsten has a MM from Yale University and BM from Mannes College of Music.