Katherine Triest began piano studies at age 5, followed by flute in middle school, subsequently earning an Associate Degree in Flute Performance at the Guildhall School of Music in London, where she studied under William Bennett and participated in master classes with Marcel Moyse and Jean-Pierre Rampal. Upon her return to the Bay Area, she received her B.A. in music at U.C. Berkeley. Katherine developed a full studio of flute students and free-lanced in chamber music and orchestral performances. Finding that she missed the repertoire and all-round musical training of piano study, Katherine returned to teaching and studying piano 20 years ago, and was drawn to the way the Suzuki method fosters young students’ ability in starting by ear. She also appreciates that the Suzuki approach allows her to expect both a beautiful tone and technique and a high degree of musical sophistication and expression even from young students. She has earned her Suzuki Method certification with Caroline Fraser and HNU in Books 1, 2, & 3.
Katherine has also participated in workshops in Alexander Technique, Body Mapping and the Taubman Approach (all to do with body mechanics and ease of movement), and Music Mind Games (music theory/reading). Her teachers have included Abe Sherman, Karl Goldstein and Catherine Kautsky, and she has performed in master classes with Robert Schwartz, Mack McCray, Diane Hidy and Gwendolyn Mok.