Katharine Parsons grew up in Leicestershire and studied viola with Graeme Scott at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama before going on to do a degree in English Literature at Cambridge University.

After graduation, she established herself as a viola player and upper strings teacher in Oxfordshire where she did many recitals with the Courtenay Quartet as well as other freelance work.

More recently she studied viola with Roger Bigley at the Royal Northern College of Music as part of a PGCE in Specialist String Teaching. She moved to Peterborough in 2003 to teach for Cambridgeshire Music, and set up the Hereward Ensemble, a chamber group based in Peterborough, in 2007.

Katharine now teaches upper strings for Northamptonshire Music and Performance Arts Trust, and has a particular interest in the Kodaly method, which develops musicianship through singing and the development of ‘inner hearing’. As well as teaching individuals and small groups, she enjoys conducting and directing young ensembles.

Katharine is a keen writer, has published an article in Faith and Freedom magazine, and is presently working on a book about the value of arts education.