Mari Kobayashi is a Japanese violist, based in Germany, playing as a tutti viola player in Thüringen Philharmonie Gotha-Eisenach since 2022.

She was born in New York. She started to play violine at the age of four in musical family. She attended Guildhall School of Music and Drama junior course. At the age of fourteen she returned to Japan, entered the Tokyo Metropolitan High School of Music and Art. She gained a Bachelor degree with distinction at Musashino Music Academicae Virtuoso course. She was accepted to study at Royal Academy of Music in London and obtained her master degree and also a teaching certificate as a violin teacher (LRAM). 
 She has been a keen chamber music player, playing both violin and viola. In 2017 she decided to put the main emphasis on viola. In 2022 she graduated from Hochschule München für Theater und Musik, by Prof. Schlichtig's class and obtained master degree with viola.

She has numerous Orchestral experiences in Europe. Such as in; Mainfranken Theater Würzburg, Accademia Teatro alla Scala, L´Orchestra Haydn di Bolzano e Trento, internship in Südwestdeutsche Philharmonie Konstanz and Theater Orchester Biel Solothurn, academist in Pacific Music Festival in 2011.

She was influenced from various musicians. To name a few, from Kazuko Tanaka, Margaret Norris, Gregory Feigin, Tomotada Soh, Masahiro Tanaka, Elena Ashkenazy, Sebastian Hamann, Matthew Souther, Isabel Charisius, Wen Xiao Zheng and Hariolf Schlichtig.