Kat Wallace is a Boston based fiddle player, singer and songwriter. After receiving a degree in Violin Performance from the Ithaca College School of Music in 2016, Kat crossed over from classical to alternative string styles with ease, connecting her with masters of the fiddle. She’s directed a fiddle group in her home state of Connecticut as part of the famed Fire in the Kitchen Concert Series and Workshops, leading to opportunities to trade tunes with Darol Anger, Hanneke Cassel, Jeremy Kittel, Mike Block and others of their legacy. During her graduate studies at New England Conservatory she became a founding member and arranger of the Askia Quartet, where her skills in writing and arranging for string quartet flourished.
Her affinity for original music has her working and recording with a myriad of successful bands ranging in genre from Country and Bluegrass to Celtic and Folk. She is currently in the process of writing and recording a solo record of original folk songs on tenor guitar, set to be released in January of 2024. Wallace is also touring the debut self titled record “Rachel Sumner and Traveling Light” with 2021 Lennon Award Winner, Rachel Sumner, and has two other critically acclaimed LP’s recorded with multi-instrumentalist, David Sasso released in 2021 and 2019 respectively. When she’s not on the road, Kat frequents the legendary Irish pubs of Boston, calling tunes and songs with the city’s finest Celtic players.
Wallace is also a highly sought after pedagogue with a devoted crew of violin, viola and fiddle students ranging in age from 8 - 50+. Her years of experience teaching in a public school music program dovetailed with one on one instruction have allowed her to craft her own teaching style that is technically all encompassing but wildly creative. With deep compassion and infectious joy, she inspires each student to work hard and succeed in their craft.
student testimonials
“Online lessons have gone really well and have helped me focus more on the lesson. Kat is kind and chill and gives really good advice - she has helped me a lot with my left hand position. Kat is a great teacher.”
Raven is a 1st year violin student.
“I love that my son’s violin lessons are such a balanced combination of technique and a wide range or repertoire. He’ll go from arpeggios to one finger or one string scales, to a Bach Gavotte, a fiddle tune and a little Frank Sinatra played by ear all in one lesson. Kat really knows how to keep the rep appealing and engaging for students”
Dani is a professional opera singer and instructor and is the parent of Jackson, a 4th year violin student.
“After ten years of playing violin, Kat is one of the best teachers I’ve ever had. She has helped me grow so much as a violinist and so much that I have accomplished as a musician I owe to her.”
Isabella is a 2nd year violin student
Kat’s private teaching studio is made up of around 20 violin and viola students of all levels, ages, and styles. She’s developed her own teaching pedagogy that combines the classical teaching theories of Shinichi Suzuki, Dorothy Delay and Leopold Auer with the modern approach from present day fiddle and jazz violin masters such as Darol Anger, Sara Caswell and Mark O’Connor.