Katherine Black Shields

Katherine Shields, viola, has been a member of the Arizona Opera Orchestra since 1999. She has served on Orchestra Committees of the Florida Symphony Orchestra and the Arizona Opera Orchestra, where she is currently co-chair of the Outreach Concerts Committee.

A native of Chicago, Katherine has been an avid chamber musician since starting her study of viola in the public schools. She is on the Teaching Artists Roster of the Arizona Commission on the Arts as a member of string quartet Quartet Sabaku (www.quartetsabaku.com).

Katherine is String Academy Director for Prescott’s Chaparral MusicFest, which showcases the work of living Arizona composers. With Quartet Sabaku, she is faculty for the West Valley Youth Orchestra’s “Chamber Music Camp with Quartet Sabaku.” Katherine is also a studio teacher of violin and viola and adjunct faculty at Chandler-Gilbert Community College.

As “sabakuviolist” she writes humorous pieces about musical life for www.scribd.com and is a Phoenix Family Entertainment Examiner for www.examiner.com.

Katherine is a former member of the Tucson Symphony Orchestra, The Phoenix Symphony and the Florida Symphony Orchestra. She holds a B.M. in Viola from Northwestern University (Evanston, IL) and an M.M. and D.M.A. in Solo Performance from Arizona State University, Tempe, where she was inducted into Pi Kappa Lambda. Her principal teachers include William Magers, Lee Lane, William Schoen, Robert Swan, George Janzer, and Karen Tuttle.

• Quartet Sabaku