Katherine Schultz

Katherine Schultz began her musical journey as a violinist at age 3 in her local Suzuki program, but after 11 years of whining about having to practice while standing up her mother finally let her switch to the cello (she would now give anything to be able to practice while standing up.) In attempts to learn to sound less like a violinist playing the cello, she attended Interlochen Arts Academy and earned her BM and MM in Music Performance from Northwestern and Rice Universities.  Along the way she played with groups such as the Civic Orchestra of Chicago and the Houston Symphony, and was awarded a fellowship from the Tanglewood Music Center in Lenox, MA.

Katherine moved from Houston to the Pacific Northwest in 2001, and to this day still maintains an intimate relationship with her Light Therapy Lamp. Her first job was as assistant principal cellist of the Tacoma Symphony. She tired of the drive immediately and thus resigned 12 years later. Katherine currently serves as the principal cellist of the Portland Chamber Orchestra, assistant principal of the Oregon Ballet Theatre orchestra, and a member of the Portland Opera orchestra. She can be found playing with many other local ensembles (some of whom even actually invited or hired her) such as Amadeus Chamber Orchestra, Eugene Symphony, and Cascadia Composers, and music festivals such as Siletz Bay, Sunriver, and Oregon Coast.

Katherine’s first chamber music experience was attending a live performance of the Beaux Arts Trio as a 6-year-old, during which she got the hiccups 3 times. She has since developed a passion for the repertoire and camaraderie of small ensemble performance. In addition to being a featured chamber musician at the Siletz Bay Music Festival, Katherine has performed on the All-Classical radio show Thursdays @ Three with various groups such as the Lovejoy Trio.  She plays with the WildWood and Stumptown string quartets and the viola/cello combo Atomic Duo.

Katherine’s interests include forcing her students to record themselves practicing, hunting for her frisbee in the woods at the disc golf course, and traveling to places that don’t require sleeping outdoors.

Katherine Schultz’s chair is sponsored by Gresham Center for the Arts Foundation.