Today we’d like to introduce you to Kathryn Hilger.
Hi Kathryn, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
I picked up the viola in public school at 9 years old – inspired by my best friend, a year older than me, who played violin. I quickly fell in love with the instrument and began taking private lessons. I always loved orchestra and viola, but it wasn’t until I was 15 and had my first experience with the Missouri All-State Orchestra that I realized I wanted to pursue performance as a career. We played Shostakovich’s 9th Symphony – an experience that helped me realize how much I enjoyed participating in symphonic work. There’s nothing quite like being one small part of an ensemble that can create such a range of emotion and energy.
I went on to earn two degrees in Viola Performance – my Bachelor’s from UMKC Conservatory and my Master’s from the Cleveland Institute of Music.
Graduating with a Master’s in Performance during COVID was not what I had in mind when I set out to achieve my degree, but it allowed me to quickly learn the importance of diversifying a skill set. Following graduation I worked in instrument repair before switching to full time freelance work in January of 2022.
In October 2021 I was asked to join the Harmony Project KC team as a Teaching Artist. That offer ended up changing my life, as I fell in love with the program, the students, and teaching group classes. What began as a single intermediate viola class ballooned into 11 group classes a week – both after school and within the school day through community partnerships. Harmony Project has changed my mindset towards music education, especially in relationship to community building. I love serving a program that directly helps the neighborhood in which I reside. Through Harmony Project, I was also selected to participate in the Teaching Artists Training Institute to further develop my skills as a performance based Teaching Artist in an El Sistema program.
Currently, I teach for Harmony Project in addition to a new role as an Artist-in-Residence for Kansas City Public Schools, where I will be teaching a Beginner Orchestra class at an area high school. I am also re-starting my private studio in August 2025 at Village Music Academy. I’m excited to have more private students, as I’ve missed the one-on-one lesson structure during my endeavors teaching group classes.
The other half of my freelance career is focused on performance – the biggest of those roles being through my position as Artistic Director for Midwest Chamber Ensemble, where I program, perform and organize a six concert series annually. I began playing with Midwest Chamber Ensemble as a freshman in college, continuing on through my degree in Kansas City and returning following the completion of my Master’s Degree. MCE is focused on performing music in the classical tradition and providing opportunities for young professional musicians to work alongside collegiate musicians and seasoned freelancers. Ideally, much like my own experience, our musicians will come to find that the colleagues they meet through MCE will become centers in their professional circles as their careers develop.
Outside of MCE, I can be found performing as Principal Viola with the Topeka Symphony, regularly subbing with the Kansas City Symphony, playing with Sisterbot’s project the KC Queertet, and performing in weddings, events, community ensembles and Candlelight concerts.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
The biggest challenge in my career thus far has been twofold – the first, most obvious obstacle being COVID-19. COVID took hold during the last few months of my graduate degree. While I was lucky to not have to complete entire years of grad school virtually, I struggled to find my footing as a newly graduated classical musician in an industry that had almost entirely been put on hold. As we all know, with time the urgency of the pandemic faded, and as business returned to usual I was able to begin securing performance opportunities and making progress with my career goals.
Aside from global pandemics, classical music is a challenging industry, especially following graduation. Balancing life with the demands of high-level performance is challenging. I’m constantly striving to find more time to practice – but aren’t we all?
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
I’d like to talk a bit about Midwest Chamber Ensemble — leading MCE as Artistic Director has been an incredibly valuable experience, but my favorite part of my role is programming. I love putting together works that have a common theme, and have recently been focused on mythology. You’ll find a lot of common mythological themes if you look at the works programmed on our upcoming 14th season. As we continue to grow, I hope to create programs with stronger themes, hire a wider variety of musicians, and build community partnerships with artists of other disciplines. I believe the future of classical music is concerts that create an experience for the audience beyond what is heard.
At MCE, we hope to provide our audiences with a wide variety of works in the classical tradition – canonical works, works by new composers, works by unknown composers of the past, and works by composers who have traditionally been suppressed. It’s important to us that we present both our musicians and audience with a wide variety of works for chamber ensemble, after all, there is so much repertoire to choose from!
We are so excited to be embarking on our 14th season, beginning with our September 21st performance featuring selections from our most recent album, Old Friends in New Clothes, featuring soprano Sarah Tannehill Anderson. Also on the program is Messiaen’s Quartet for the End of Time, and a new work, Ouroboros, by local composer and MCE violinist Isaac Villaroya. Other season highlights include a collaboration with the Doug Talley Quintet and Beethoven’s Fifth Piano Concerto performed by MCE pianist John Livingston.
Visit midwestchamberensemble.org for ticketing and season information.
What quality or characteristic do you feel is most important to your success?
I think one of the most important qualities to take into one’s professional life is the ability to view everything as a learning experience and an opportunity to develop new skill sets. I set out to get performance degrees with the hope that I would secure a symphonic job. Now, 5 years following graduation, I have enjoyed a far more diverse professional life than I could have ever imagined – and none of that would have been possible had I only taken jobs that I felt were 100% within my wheelhouse. I have learned and grown so much through asking questions, pursuing professional development opportunities, and pushing myself outside of my comfort zone. Open-mindedness is key to success in the arts. And while I haven’t yet secured the symphonic job, I know that this detour has expanded my professional capabilities in ways that will serve me through the end of my career.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://kathrynhilgerviola.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kathrynhilger.viola/?hl=en
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kathryn-hilger-285215240/
- Other: https://midwestchamberensemble.org
