A Chicago area native, Kathy Burrell joined the faculty at the Vienna Music institute in Irvine in February 2024. She was formerly
on adjunct faculty at the University of Indianapolis’s Community Music Academy. Concurrent with her studio at the University of Indianapolis, she held a large private studio in the greater Indianapolis area and regularly performed with orchestras across the Midwest including Illinois Symphony, Orchestra Indiana, and Southwest Michigan Symphony. Student achievements include
acceptance to music schools across the Midwest and East Coast
, principal and section positions with the multiple youth orchestras, and acceptance to honor orchestras. Kathy has taught sectionals to the Philharmonic Orchestra of the Indianapolis Youth Symphony, Ball State University’s Campus Orchestra, and the 2022 Indiana State School Music Association (ISSMA) State Champion, Avon High School Symphony Orchestra. In 2023, she was honored to act as a member of the ISSMA Grade 1 Manual Revision Committee where she spearheaded a more diverse and inclusive list of compositions for cello solo and chamber repertoire for the statewide contest—where she has been a frequent judge.
She received her B.M. and M.M. in Cello Performance at Ball State University in Muncie, IN, under the tutelage of Peter Opie, a pupil of acclaimed cellist and pedagogue Richard Aaron. She has additional studies with Alison Wells and Thomas Loewenheim.