Kathryn Harpainter began her musical studies when she was 10 years old, and since then she has studied violin, viola and piano. She completed her Masters in Music from the University of Arizona in 2014 after graduating Magna Cum Laud with her Bachelor degree in Music from the University of the Pacific Conservatory of Music in Stockton, CA. Her primary teachers have been Hong-Mei Xiao, Professor of Viola at the University of Arizona, Yun-Jie Liu, Associate Principal Violist for the San Francisco Symphony, and Igor Veligan, Professor of Violin and Viola at the University of the Pacific.

 

    Her orchestra experience includes serving as principal viola with North State Symphony in Chico, CA, and as assistant principal viola for Veridian Symphony in Yuba City, CA. Kathryn has also toured with Alaska’s Juneau Symphony for their spring 2012 season, Aspen Music Festival, and currently she is a substitute violist with the Tucson Symphony Orchestra.

 

    Kathryn has taught independently as a private violin/viola instructor  for the past 13 years and for many organizations both in California and in Arizona, including the Tucson Youth Music Center, University of Arizona’s String Project, Young Talent’s Music School, Quest for Education and Arts, and as Graduate Teaching Assistant for the University of Arizona Graduate String Quartet for the past year and a half.

 

    As a soloist, Kathryn has performed with American River College Orchestra, with Adventure Christian Church, and at the University of the Pacific’s 2010 Honors Recital. In 2015 she was awarded first place in the Master Player’s Summer Festival Solo Competition, which was hosted by the University of Delaware. In her pre-college years she was also a finalist in the Music in the Mountain’s Young Artist Competitions and was awarded first place in the chamber music division in both 1999 and 2000.

 

    In her spare time Kathryn enjoys playing Celtic fiddle, and participating in hiking and other outdoor activities with her family and friends.

 

 

Teaching Philosophy:

 

Music is more than an art or a profession; it is a way of life in many respects. It fine-tunes our personalities and who we are as people, and gives us yet another way to express ourselves. One of the greatest string pedagogues of all time, Shinichi Suzuki once said, " Teaching music is not my main purpose. I want to make good citizens. If children hear fine music from the day of their birth and learn to play it, they develop sensitivity, discipline and endurance. They get a beautiful heart. " Music is such a powerful tool for people because it gives them the ability to improve themselves from the inside out. Suzuki's philosophy of improving people's lives through music is always in the back of my mind when teaching. By allowing music to be a part of one's life in a meaningful way, we can all improve our general well being as people.

 

 There are two parts to my teaching philosophy. The first part is that no one student learns the same way or has the same goals. Therefore I believe in teaching each student as an individual according to their own strengths and weaknesses, and teaching them in a way that will help them to become completely independent learners who will achieve their musical goals during and after school.

           

Secondly, music is about people, and communicating on a deeper level than words can express. Whether it is teaching, performing in an orchestra, working in a chamber group, or performing a solo, music has always been about the people and sharing ideas in a universal way. Musicians are tempted to isolate themselves in a practice room until they can play every note perfectly, but music is rarely perfect and is meant to be shared.  My expectations for my students are that they will share their music so that others will enjoy it as well.