Catherine Ramirez

Catherine Ramirez is a three-time international prize-winning flutist, recent winner of a McKnight Artist Fellowship, and Artist-in-Residence at St. Olaf College. An active solo, chamber, and orchestral performer and teacher, she has concertized and taught on four continents to high acclaim. She serves communities through outreach endeavors and her work on optimal musical communication has been published in major print and online flute magazines.

Born in Phoenix, Arizona, to Colombian and Mexican-American parents, Catherine grew up in the U.S.-Mexico border city of El Paso, Texas. She began playing the flute in the sixth grade public school band, and started private flute lessons at age 18. She earned performance degrees from Occidental College (BA), the 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. A lover of travel and languages, she resides with her husband and their dog in Minnesota.