Dr. Catherine Ramirez, flutist, actively endeavors to promote in performance a viscerally and emotionally memorable connection with audience members. Reviewed as “wonderful, an astonishing artist” (Brian Dickie, Chicago Opera Theatre) whose conviction and communication are “incredibly powerful” (Leone Buyse, renowned flutist and pedagogue), Dr. Ramirez embraces a breadth of styles in concert: elegant, spiritually uplifting moments, acrobatic virtuosity, and brutally primal contemporary music.
Assistant Professor of Flute and Theory at St. Olaf College and winner of the Sallie Shepherd Perkins Prize for Best Achievement from Rice University (2010), Dr. Ramirez has gained recognition for her vivid and compelling interpretations and for her engaging teaching. She has performed as a solo, chamber and orchestral musician in Italy, France, Austria, Switzerland, Canada, Mexico, Colombia, and in the United States. She made her New York recital debut in 2000, and has appeared as a soloist and chamber musician at the Teatro del Giglio in Italy, Salt Lake City's Temple Square, Merkin Concert Hall, Symphony Space and Carnegie's Weill Recital Hall in New York. The International Music Foundation featured Dr. Ramirez at the Chicago Cultural Center on the Dame Myra Hess Concert Series. In 2010, she was one of five musicians, out of 300, selected to represent Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music in concert at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D. C. Most recently, she was featured at the National Flute Association Convention in North Carolina (2011), garnering much audience acclaim. Her performances have been broadcast live on Chicago’s classical radio station WFMT, Rice University’s KTRU and Houston’s KUHF “Front Row” Program.
She has been a concerto soloist in the United States and in Italy, performing concerti by Ibert, Mozart, Martin, and Chaminade. She also successfully performed as a last-minute replacement on Bellini’s La Sonnambula Variations with L’Offerta Musicale Chamber Orchestra of Venice. Symphonic performances include those with the El Paso Opera and El Paso Symphony Orchestras, the Vermont Mozart Festival Orchestra, and the acclaimed Rice University Shepherd School Orchestras led by Larry Rachleff. Distinguished performances as principal flutist include Mozart’s Don Giovanni with conductor Richard Bado, Lalo Schifrin’s Tangos Concertantes with violinist Cho-Liang Lin, and Strauss’ Four Last Songs with soprano Renée Fleming.
Winner of grants from the Yvar Mikhashoff Trust, the Ernst Krenek Society, and philanthropist Andreas Waldburg-Wolfegg, and support from over 75 individuals, she recorded her debut recital CD Transformation (CR4249) and commissioned and premiered a new flute and piano work entitled Into Utter Forever (2006) by University of Colorado (Boulder) composer Daniel Kellogg. Commemorating the fantastical events of the Resurrection, a 2010 Houston performance of the work with pianist Andrew Staupe received the following remarks: “dramatic, captivating, stunning!”
In serving the greater community, Dr. Ramirez proposed, organized and presented a Houston concert series of accessible Latin and South American chamber music for ‘at-risk’ youth, for those recovering from addictions, and for children with autism and other developmental challenges, who do not have access to live concert music. In Minnesota, she assisted and organized flutist Leone Buyse’s 2011 visit to St. Olaf College and a collaboration with the Upper Midwest Flute Association. Dr. Ramirez was also the coordinating liaison for the Sexteto Venezolano de Flautas (formerly known as Simon Bolivar Flute Ensemble), which resulted in their 2011 and 2012 invitations to National Flute Association Conventions in Charlotte and Las Vegas.
Dr. Ramirez served as a music panelist for the 2010 Hispanic Career and Education Day held at the George Brown Convention Center in Houston. Her guest masterclass appearances include Brigham Young University (BYU), University of Utah, New Mexico State University, repeat engagements at the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP), and Bowling Green State University.
She earned flute performance degrees at Occidental College (BA), Boccherini Music Institute in Italy (Honors Diploma), Queens College (MA), Yale University School of Music (MM), and Rice University (DMA). Her major teachers include Melissa Colgin-Abeln, Gary Woodward, Marzio Conti, Tara Helen O'Connor, Ransom Wilson and Leone Buyse.
**The production of this disc was supported by Chicago philanthropist Andreas Waldburg-Wolfegg, a grant from the Ernst Krenek Society, and over 75 individuals, including Mateusz Zechowski (recording engineer), Keith Murphy (author of the program notes), Madeline Sturm (graphic designer) and pianists Anne Breeden and Michael Mizrahi.**
For more information, visit www.catherineramirez.com
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