Viola
Associate Principal Viola
Katie Liu joined the Seattle Symphony in the 2024/2025 season. Liu started playing violin at age 5 and permanently switched to the viola in her senior year at Princeton University, where she concentrated in Operations Research and Financial Engineering and minored in Computer Science and Musical Performance. She received her Master of Musical Arts degree at the Yale School of Music in the studio of Ettore Causa, and her Master of Music degree at the Colburn School with Paul Coletti and Teng Li. She has had prior corporate working experience in asset management and fintech consulting and commenced her viola pursuits as winner of the Princeton University Concerto Competition; as a soloist, she has performed with the Princeton University Orchestra and Colburn Orchestra.
Liu was previously the principal violist of the American Youth Symphony and section violist at the New Haven Symphony Orchestra and performs with the New York Philharmonic as a substitute violist. An active chamber musician, she has performed in the North Shore Chamber Music Festival, the Jupiter Symphony Chamber Players, Aspect Chamber Music series and Music on Park Avenue series with pianist Per Tengstrand. Her festival experience includes the NUME Academy, YellowBarn, Verbier Festival Academy, Music@Menlo’s International Program and Kronberg Academy’s Chamber Music Connects the World program. Liu was a semi-finalist at the 2024 Primrose International Viola Competition and 2023 Oskar Nedbal International Viola Competition.
Liu plays on a viola made for her by Frédéric Chaudière in 2024.
