Catherine Hanson has been playing in the Colorado Springs Philharmonic since 1994. She began violin studies at the age of nine and added the viola at age seventeen. Catherine attended the Eastman School of Music and the Cleveland Institute of Music where she studied with Heidi Castleman. She continued her studies at the University of Denver with James Maurer and Basil Vendryes. Catherine has a BM in viola performance and an MM in violin performance and Suzuki Pedagogy. She and her husband, Michael Hanson, teach at the Thomas MacLaren School, a 6th through 12th grade charter school where every student learns to play a string instrument. They have four daughters, Mia, Astrid, Chloe, and Phoebe.