Katherine Kobylarz, Violin
Katherine Kobylarz joined the violin section of the Naples Philharmonic in September 2023. She previously served as a member of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra’s second violin section for their 2021-22 and 2022-23 seasons. Before that, Katherine spent three years as a fellow with the New World Symphony in Miami Beach under the direction of Michael Tilson Thomas.
Having focused on orchestral playing from early in her career, Katherine has performed with many orchestras across the country, including the St. Louis Symphony, Akron Symphony, Canton Symphony, Erie Philharmonic and Palm Beach Symphony, and toured abroad throughout Europe and South America. She played in the National Repertory Orchestra in Breckenridge, Colorado, for two summers and held the position of principal second violin during the summer of 2018, when she was also featured as soloist in Mozart’s Sinfonia Concertante for Violin and Viola. Other summer festival appearances have included the Spoleto Festival USA in Charleston, South Carolina; the National Orchestral Institute in College Park, Maryland; and the Bowdoin International Music Festival in Brunswick, Maine.
Katherine completed her master’s degree at the Cleveland Institute of Music, where she studied with Stephen Rose, principal second violin of The Cleveland Orchestra. Prior to that, she studied at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music with Grigory Kalinovsky, where she received her Bachelor of Music and a minor in history in two years. Katherine started playing the violin at the age of 3 and began her musical education in the precollege division of the Manhattan School of Music.
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The facts:
I am from Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey.
What are you most excited for as you begin your tenure with Artis—Naples?
I am looking forward to getting to know my new colleagues and making music with them!
What is one fun fact about you?
Fall is my favorite season, and I look forward to enjoying the foliage and decorating my home for Halloween every year.
What inspired you to become a musician?
I have always been most inspired by ensemble playing. The feeling of cooperation and collaboration achieved when performing in an orchestra is quite powerful.
What’s challenging about playing your instrument?
I think consistency can be a challenge on the violin. Your body feels a bit different every day, but you want to maintain the same high quality of sound and intonation being produced regardless.
What are your favorite compositions?
Many of my favorite works fall into the category of programmatic music, like Strauss’ Alpine Symphony and Berlioz’s Symphonie Fantastique, but I am always happy to play anything by Mozart or Beethoven.
What have you been listening to recently?
I do listen to a lot of classical music, but I also really enjoy having jazz playing in my home. I listen to a lot of podcasts while I am running or on long drives — I highly recommend Joshua Weilerstein’s Sticky Notes and Bruce Adolphe’s Piano Puzzler.
Are there other musicians in your immediate family?
Just me! My mother enrolled me in many extracurriculars as a child, including music lessons, and violin just happened to be what stayed with me.
What do you like to do outside of work?
I love to cook, and I’m always looking for new plant-based recipes to try. I also enjoy reading, especially by the pool, and spending time with animals.