Violinist Katie Cousins is a versatile performer and educator with a passion for a vast range of musical styles. She has been featured on stages across the U.S. and Europe, and is dedicated to making both classic and new music accessible to a broad and diverse audience.
Currently based in Chicago, Katie has shared the stage with a wide variety of exceptional musicians spanning many genres, including Bela Fleck, Audra McDonald, Doc Severinsen, Ramsey Lewis, and the Beach Boys. She regularly performs with several orchestral ensembles throughout the Midwest, particularly the South Bend, Kalamazoo, and Peoria Symphonies. A lifelong lover of the stage, she has also appeared with numerous musical theater and opera companies from Chicago to New York.
With a special passion for chamber music, Katie has enjoyed sharing both masterpieces and hidden gems of the repertoire with international audiences. She was a co-founder of SomArté, a piano trio which toured the Midwest, and a member of the Living Room Players, a chamber music collective based in Oak Park, IL. She has worked with members of the Emerson, Pacifica, and St. Lawrence String Quartets, and in the fall of 2011, co-founded Isosceles, a unique violin-saxophone-piano trio with which she toured the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern U.S.
Katie holds a Master of Music and a Graduate Professional Diploma in Violin Performance from the Hartt School in Hartford, Connecticut. While there, she developed a special interest in contemporary music, leading to her performances with the 016 New Music Ensemble, based in Hartford, and later the Chicago Composer’s Orchestra. In addition, she has had the opportunity to work with several prodigious living composers, including William Bolcolm, Jennifer Higdon, and John Corigliano.
Before completing her graduate studies at Hartt, Katie received a Bachelor of Science in Music Education from Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Dedicated to the next generation of music lovers, she is a strong advocate for the development and strengthening of music programs in schools across the country. She has been teaching in private, small group, and classroom settings for over 20 years, and currently maintains private lesson studios in Chicago, Western Springs, Naperville, and Geneva.
When not performing or teaching, Katie can most likely be found traveling and adventuring outdoors with loved ones in tow, a good book in hand, and a camera at the ready.
