Katharine Gerson DeBolt

Kitty relaxes before playing Loeffler’s Quatre
Poèmes, in Florence.
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Katharine Gerson DeBolt served as Assistant Principal Viola with the Kansas City Philharmonic for 10 years. Concurrently, she performed as principal and soloist with the Philharmonic Chamber Orchestra and as principal of the Kansas City Lyric Opera Orchestra. She also served as Principal Viola for the Tulsa Philharmonic, and has been a member of the Cleveland Opera Orchestra, the Ohio Chamber Orchestra, and the orchestras of the Cleveland Ballet, Santa Fe Opera, Birmingham, Columbus, Youngstown, and the Mozarteum in Salzburg.

As a solo and chamber artist, she has concertized in Austria, Italy, Germany, France, China, and Canada as well as in many areas of the United States. In addition to membership in the Kent Camerata, her chamber groups include the Maine Friends of Music, a Baroque ensemble that has performed in New England, France, and Ohio. In the Midwest, she was a member of the Kansas City Baroque Players and the Cosmopolitan and Sonoro string quartets. As a principal violist or chamber artist, she has recorded for RCA, CRS, and Crystal Records.

Born into a musical family in Philadelphia, Mrs. DeBolt began piano lessons at the age of three. Her rich musical background includes study with Max Aronoff and other members of the Curtis Quartet, William Berman, Joseph DePasquale, Stanley Konopka, and with faculty artists at the Aspen Festival and the Mozarteum in Salzburg, Austria. She earned degrees from the Oberlin Conservatory of Music and the Ohio State University.

“The concert reaches the summit of lyricism with a moving rendition for viola and piano of the Maerchenbilder, Op.113 by Robert Schumann by the truly skillful Gerson-DeBolt” (Oliviero Marchesi, Liberta, Milan)

“She appeared as soloist, and is a fine professional and musical violist.” (Maurice Peress, Music Director/Conductor, the Kansas City Philharmonic)

“DeBolt’s reading of the Brahms F Minor Sonata was limpid and secure. In the Andante movement, she spun long phrases of simple beauty.” (Harry Haskell, Kansas City Times)

“She is a fine artist.” (Max Aronoff, violist Curtis Quartet)