Bio

Catherine Consiglio has been Professor of Viola at Wichita State University and Principal Viola in the Wichita Symphony since 1989. In 2021 she was most honored to receive the prestigious Burton Pell Achievement in Music Award from the Wichita Arts Council, recognizing her contributions to the city of Wichita in over three decades of music making and teaching. Catherine was the violist with the Fairmount String Quartet for 17 years. The FSQ toured nationally, participated in numerous regional residencies, and played hundreds of concerts in communities and schools throughout Kansas. Catherine was invited to teach and perform in Paraguay in 2015 and 2017. While in Asunción, she gave Master Classes and taught lessons at Escuela Musical Miranda and the National University of Asuncion. She also performed chamber music in Asunción as a part of the Paraguay Kansas Project and soloed with the Camerata Miranda Orchestra at the Argentinian Embassy. Catherine’s degrees include a MM from the New England Conservatory, where she was assistant to renowned pedagogue Heidi Castleman and a BM from Wichita State University. Her teachers include Heidi Castleman, Jeffrey Irvine and Eugene Lehner, violist with the legendary Kolish Quartet. Catherine has also taught at Rice University, the University of Connecticut, University of Oklahoma and Phillips Academy in Boston. Former orchestral playing positions include: Principal Violist of the Oklahoma Symphony, Boston Philharmonic, New England Chamber Orchestra, Orquesta Sinfónica de Xalapa and Assistant Principal of the Houston Chamber Orchestra. Catherine has taught and performed at festivals across the United States, Mexico and Europe, including the Evian Music Festival in France, The Quartet Program and Killington Music Festival in the United States. She has been a guest violist with the Harrington and Pro Arte String Quartets on many occasions. Catherine has also received several WSU College of Fine Arts Excellence in Achievement Awards. In 1994 she was awarded the Excellence in Teaching Award, in 2003 and 2017 she received the Excellence in Special Fine Arts Endeavors Award and in August of 2007 she was awarded the Anita Jones Faculty Fellowship by the Dean of the College of Fine Arts, receiving a $10,000 cash gift in recognition for her accomplishments and leadership. In 2008 the Board and Musicians of the Wichita Symphony Orchestra gave the prestigious Daniel J. Sevart Award for Community Service to Catherine for her work with Chamber Music at The Barn, a chamber music festival she co-founded and was Artistic Director for from 1997-2022. She also serves on the selection committee for the Koch Cultural Trust. Catherine plays on a Hungarian Viola made for Heidi Castleman by Max Frirsz in the 1970’s. She purchased the viola in 1993.