St. Olaf College, Northfield, MN USA
Recognized for her “sensitive and artistic” (Flute Talk Magazine) performances as “a communicator through music” (American Record Guide), flutist Catherine Ramirez has captivated listeners from her humble roots along the U.S. Southern border to audiences around the world. Despite a late start on the flute, Catherine has won three international competition prizes in Italy, First Prize and a New York Debut from the New York Flute Club Young Artist Competition, and has performed as a soloist and chamber artist at such renowned venues as The Kennedy Center’s Millennium Stage, Carnegie’s Weill Recital Hall, and the Beijing Concert Hall. Equally at home with orchestras, Catherine has performed with such groups as the Mill City Summer Opera, Vermont Mozart Festival, El Paso Symphony, Houston Ballet, Minnesota Orchestra and The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra. As a dedicated educator of flute and chamber music, she has been an adjudicator and coach for the Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition, has taught youth to graduate flute students in numerous masterclasses in the U.S., Italy, Colombia, and China, and serves as Artist-in-Residence at St. Olaf College (MN).
Motivated to give back to communities in which she has lived, Catherine taught middle school band in El Paso, organized and performed a concert series of accessible Latin and South American chamber music for Houston’s ‘at-risk’ youth, performed for nuns in Bogotà, and played a tailored program for cancer patients and therapists at mental health clinics in Minnesota. Her performances have been broadcast on WFMT, KUHF and MPR radio, and her research on optimal musical communication has been featured on the cover of The Flutist Quarterly.
Born in Phoenix, Arizona, to Colombian and Mexican-American parents, Catherine grew up in the U.S.-Mexico border city of El Paso, Texas. She began playing the flute in the sixth grade public school band, and started private flute lessons at age 18. She earned performance degrees from Occidental College (BA), the Boccherini Music Institute in Italy (Honors Diploma), Queens College (MA), Yale University School of Music (MM), and Rice University (DMA). Her major teachers include Melissa Colgin-Abeln, Gary Woodward, Marzio Conti, Tara Helen O’Connor, Ransom Wilson and Leone Buyse. She continues this heritage of mentorship with her students in Minnesota.
Catherine Ramirez is extremely grateful and elated to be playing a Burkart Elite 998 Silver Flute with Gold Tone Holes and a 14K Gold Mancke Headjoint, as well as a Burkart XXV Piccolo.