Catherine Himmerich, concertmaster, joined the Minnesota Philharmonic in 2012 and was the featured soloist on Maurice Ravel’s Tzigane in 2016 and Samuel Coleridge-Taylor’s Violin Concerto in 2019. She has performed with artists ranging from the Eagles and Hanson to Andrea Bocelli and Sigur Rós. She has also been concertmaster for various opera companies and choral/orchestral ensembles in the Twin Cities, including Journey North Opera Company and the Gilbert and Sullivan Very Light Opera Company. Additionally, she plays in the Metamorphosis Duo with MPO associate concertmaster, Joe Dolson, and their repertoire focuses heavily on violin duos by women, LGBTQIA+, and BIPOC composers.
A member of the violin faculty at the Saint Paul Conservatory of Music, she has a long-standing commitment to including repertoire by underrepresented composers in her teaching, and she is passionate about working with students from communities who have historically not had access to music instruction. With both her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Minnesota, she has studied with Roger Frisch, Roland Vamos, J. Patrick Rafferty, and Korey Konkol.