KATIE KRESEK

As violinist, violist, and teaching artist, Katie Kresek maintains a dynamic musical career that elegantly incorporates her eclectic mix of interests in the arts and academia. Born into an artistic family in Cooperstown, New York, she was raised in Ossining and obtained her undergraduate degrees summa cum laude in both Music and English Literature from the State University of New York at Purchase, studying violin in the studios of Daniel Phillips and Laurie Smukler and in master classes with Elmar Oliviera and Donald Weilerstein.

Ms Kresek holds a masters degree from Mannes College, where she studied violin with Lucie Robert and chamber music with Felix Galimir, Diane Walsh, and David Krakauer. As a recitalist, she has performed at the National Arts Club, Weill Recital Hall, Caramoor, Merkin Hall, and the New York Public Library, has been featured on WQXR’s McGraw-Hill Young Artists Showcase and WNYC’s program Sound Check. An avid chamber musician, Ms. Kresek was a founding member of the Arabella Piano Trio, with whom she made her Carnegie Hall debut in 2002. As an orchestral musician, Ms. Kresek performs with the Harrisburg, Albany, and Princeton Symphony Orchestras, The Philadelphia Virtuosi, The Westchester and Brooklyn Philharmonics, The American Composers Orchestra, and was a member of the Spoleto Festival Orchestra in Italy. She has performed as principal of classical ensembles in the tri-state area and also frequently plays in the Broadway production of The Phantom of the Opera. On the popular music circuit, she has performed with artists such as Adele, Alicia Keys, Josh Groban, Jewel, The Trans-Siberian Orchestra, and Susan Boyle. Television appearances include: The Today Show, The Late Show with David Letterman and Saturday Night Live. She has collaborated with members of the Paul Taylor Dance Company and Thomas/Ortiz Dance at the Joyce Theater and Merce Cunningham Studios, and is a member of Hector del Curto’s Eternal Tango Orchestra.

Strongly committed to experiential arts education, Ms. Kresek holds a Masters of Education from Teachers College, Columbia University. Appointed as Family Program Designer for Caramoor in 2009, she created and hosted the Dancing at Dusk concerts and the Family Concert for Children Under Six: A Peter and the Wolf of Their Own, during the Caramoor International Music Festival. Ms. Kresek is also the Head Teaching Artist for the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, a teaching artist for Lincoln Center Institute, The New York Philharmonic, and The 92nd Street Y. Praised for her ability to engage her audience, she is a sought-after concert host and creator of children’s programs. In addition to her programs at Caramoor, she has written, performed, and hosted programs at The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center and in elementary schools and concert halls throughout the United States, Japan, and The United Arab Emirates. As a consultant, she has developed curriculum for a variety of programs around the country. She has presented professional development workshops for teachers at The Metropolitan Opera, The New York Philharmonic, and Carnegie Hall, and has facilitated aesthetic education workshops for teachers in training at leading higher education institutions in the tri-state area. She has served as a violin instructor for both Fordham and Columbia Universities.