Catherine Himmerich, Concertmaster, holds both a bachelor’s degree, summa cum laude in Violin Performance, and a master’s degree from the University of Minnesota. Prior to that, she studied at the Music Institute of Chicago and the Wisconsin Conservatory of Music in Milwaukee. Her primary teachers have included Roger Frisch, Roland Vamos, J. Patrick Rafferty, and Korey Konkol.
Catherine joined the Minnesota Philharmonic Orchestra in 2012 and was the soloist on the Violin Concerto by Samuel Coleridge-Taylor in 2019 and on Tzigane by Maurice Ravel in 2016. Recent performance highlights range from playing violin with rock bands such as the Eagles and Hanson to presenting a Black History Month recital at the All God’s Children Thursday’s Table. She has also been concertmaster and guest concertmaster of various choral/orchestral ensembles in the Twin Cities metro. Additionally, Catherine plays in the Metamorphosis Duo with MPO associate concertmaster, Joe Dolson, and their repertoire focuses heavily on violin duos by women, LGBTQ+, and BIPOC composers.
Catherine teaches violin lessons at her studio in the Loring Park neighborhood of Minneapolis. For many years she has been committed to including music by Black composers in her teaching, and her students have performed works by Juwon Ogungbe, Florence Price, Godwin Sadoh, Ignatius Sancho, and Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges.
Catherine is grateful to have recently received grants from both the Debbie Duncan Legacy Fund and Springboard for the Arts.