Catharine Lees (viola)

SeasonConcert(s)
2018August 7
2019August 6
Catharine Lees
Catharine Lees Violist Catharine Lees maintains an active career as recitalist, chamber musician, pedagogue, and andragogue. As Professor of Viola at the University of Cincinnati, College-Conservatory of Music (CCM), she served as Chairman of the String Department from 2009 to 2017. She was also the host chair of the 2010 International Viola Congress. She was a member of the Artist/Faculty of the Aspen Music Festival and School, and Principal Violist of the Aspen Chamber Symphony for 25 seasons. She is also coordinator of the event exchange agreement between Sookmyung Women’s University in Seoul, South Korea, and CCM. Catharine has been featured on numerous occasions as soloist with the Aspen Chamber Symphony, CCM Chamber Players, and Wired. Upcoming features include appearances with orchestras performing Mozart’s Sinfonia Concertante, and with the CCM Philharmonia in Strauss’ Don Quixote. As a chamber musician, she has collaborated with prominent artists including Gil Shaham, Jaime Laredo, Sarah Chang, Alisa Weilerstein, Don Weilerstein, Vivian Weilerstein, Joseph Swensen, as well as members of the Beaux Arts Trio and the Tokyo, Cleveland, American, LaSalle, and Ariel string quartets. She has been featured in broadcasts on WGUC, WFMT, NHK Radio, CBS Sunday Morning, NPR, and WOSU. Catharine’s passion for teaching and the advancement of pedagogy/andragogy led to her collaboration with Dorothy DeLay resulting in Essentials for Viola. She has presented annual master classes at the Aspen Music Festival and School, Eastman School of Music, University of Michigan, University of Texas at Austin, Carnegie-Mellon, University of Memphis, Beijing Central Conservatory, Sookmyung Women’s University, and Yeungnam University (Daegu, South Korea), as well as in Tainan and Taipei, Taiwan. Catharine earned her Bachelor of Music, Master of Music and Doctorate of Musical Arts degrees at the University of Cincinnati, College-Conservatory, where she studied viola with Masao Kawasaki, violin with Henry Meyer, and chamber music with the LaSalle and Tokyo string quartets. Catharine has performed at the SLLMF since 2018.

[2019]