CATHERINE RAMIREZ | FLUTIST

Photos by Leslie Crane and Patrick Clancy

Flutist Catherine Ramirez - recognized for her “sensitive and artistic” (Flute Talk Magazine) performances as “a communicator through music” (American Record Guide) - has captivated listeners from her desert roots along the U.S. Southern border to audiences around the world.  Winner of three international competition prizes in Italy, First Prize and a New York Debut from the New York Flute Club Young Artist Competition, a Sallie Shepherd Perkins Prize for Best Achievement from Rice University, a McKnight Fellowship for Musicians - in recognition of artistic excellence and a distinctive musical voice - and, most recently, a Sphinx MPower Artist Grant, Catherine aims in performance to harness the power of music to invite hope, connection, healing, and inspiration. 

As a soloist and chamber musician, she has performed at such renowned venues as the Teatro del Giglio in Italy, Beijing Concert Hall, the Chicago Cultural Center’s Preston Bradley Hall, The Kennedy Center’s Millennium Stage, and Carnegie’s Weill Recital Hall, while also sharing her music in such varied locations as public schools, mental health clinics, rural libraries, and urban artist lofts.  Equally at home with orchestras, Catherine has performed with such groups as the Sunriver Music Festival, Vermont Mozart Festival, El Paso Symphony, Minnesota Opera, Minnesota Orchestra, and The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra.  As a new member of both the Minnesota Sinfonia and the Chione Quintet, she continues to expand her musical reach.

A dedicated educator of flute and chamber music, Catherine has been an adjudicator and coach for the Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition, has taught youth to graduate flute students in masterclasses in the United States, Italy, Colombia, and China, has mentored young adults through the National Flute Association and Posse Program, and holds a Special Appointment as Artist-in-Residence at St. Olaf College.

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. 

Catherine plays on a Lillian Burkart Elite Flute with a Mancke or Salvatore Faulisi Headjoint, a Trevor James alto flute, and a Burkart XXV Piccolo.

A lover of travel, languages, and science fiction, she currently resides in Minnesota with her husband and their two dogs.