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Katherine Winterstein

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Violinist

In pre-pandemic life, I was a busy violinist in Boston and around New England.  I am the concertmaster of the Vermont Symphony, the associate concertmaster of the Rhode Island Philharmonic, and the co-concertmaster of the Boston Pops Esplanade Orchestra.  I also play historical period instrument music with the Handel and Haydn Society, new music with the Boston Modern Orchestra Project, I play with several area chamber ensembles, and I enjoy collaborative recitals and concerto opportunities. I’ve taught at Middlebury College and the Hartt School of Music, and currently I teach violin and chamber music at Brown University (and now remotely!).

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OtHA’s Alcove Podcast

Listen to the full episode above, or check out all our Arts’ Alcove Podcast episodes on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts.  

“Quarantine Katya”

Katya is my alter ego, a slightly frustrated, violin-playing Russian loon who shares my body and some of my thoughts. She has lived with me for many, many years, probably as a result of my musical training and work life with so many deeply beloved Slavic folks. Originally I let her out in this form (totally new for me) because a friend requested that she make an appearance on Facebook. And she had a fun project of making Pruno—prison wine—while we were all at the beginning of our confinement. But as these crises wear on, she’s become my occasional but still loony (sometimes serious) performing voice, the one who’s not burdened by tact, for instance, while my normal performing voice is quiet.

The Pruno Saga

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Katya Continues…

The Pruno may be over, but this pandemic sure isn’t.
Kayta’s still here and still keeping us sane as we get through more of 2020 together.
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“Until Next Time”
Recorded for the Notes of Hope Series
This was a recording I made in my house on my iPad of a piece for solo violin called “Until Next Time,” written by my friend
Kenji Bunch. Listen–I hate this Covid. Hard. All of us playing into our screens is a thing with which I’m kick-screaming struggling. Often I find it more heartbreak than help to see. So this was me putting my toe into the cold and slimy water of coming to grips with Music During Covid For The Long Haul.  
 
I originally recorded this piece for my friend Gloria Chien’s Notes of Hope  project, which was a series of nightly mini-concerts broadcast online and in Boston hospitals as a thank-you to all of our miraculous frontline medical people. I also recorded it the same day I was originally scheduled to play a different piece by Kenji on another wonderful series New Gallery Concert Series,  which always pairs music and visual arts by living composers and artists.
 
So I was feeling both particularly grateful for my community and acutely sad at the loss of togetherness. My rendition here is flawed, as am I. But more than any of that context, I put this out because this short wonder of a piece had done for me what little else had: it gave me a few minutes rest from my daily loops of grief, anxiety and nihilistic absurdity. Perhaps it will do the same for you.  
 
(And by the way, there is an improvised section in the middle, so if there’s something that sounds dopey to you in there,
 1)  keep it to yourself, and 2) blame me and not Kenji.)
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