Catherine French, violin

Violinist Catherine French is a native of Victoria, British Columbia, where she began Suzuki studies on the violin at age 4. A frequent soloist, Ms. French has performed with the Toronto Symphony, the Manitoba Chamber Orchestra, the Edmonton Symphony, the Calgary Philharmonic, and Symphony Nova Scotia; she made her Carnegie Hall debut in 1992 with the Senior Concert Orchestra of New York under the baton of David Gilbert. Her recital appearances include performances in New York, Montreal, Winnipeg, Calgary, Toronto, Washington D.C., and Marlboro, Vermont as a participant in the 1993 Marlboro Music Festival. Ms. French has been the recipient of numerous study grants from the Canada Council, Alberta Culture, the Alberta Foundation for the Performing Arts, the Manitoba Arts Council, and the Chalmers Fund. She won the grand prize at the National Competitive Festival of Music in 1986 and was the overall winner of the Canadian Music Competition in 1988. In 1989 she won first prize in the CBC Young Artists Competition. In 1990 she won the concerto competition at Indiana University, where she was a pupil of Miriam Fried. Ms. French graduated from Indiana University in 1990 with a bachelor's degree in music and later earned a professional studies diploma at Mannes College of Music as a student of Felix Galimir. In May 1994 she received a master of music from the Juilliard School following studies with Joel Smirnoff. Ms. French joined the Boston Symphony Orchestra's violin section in September 1994.