Katelyn Hoag

Katelyn Hoag is a professional violist and violin/viola teacher based in Birmingham, AL. She is a member of the Huntsville Symphony Orchestra and a regular substitute with the Alabama Symphony Orchestra. Previously, she was a viola fellow in The Orchestra Now in New York, where she performed in venues such as Carnegie Hall, The Kennedy Center, and Jazz at Lincoln Center. She was formerly Principal Violist of the Owensboro Symphony Orchestra in Kentucky, where she made her solo debut performing “Bohemian Rhapsody for Solo Viola and Orchestra”. She was also a member of the Evansville Philharmonic Orchestra, and has performed with the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra and the orchestra of the Deutsche Oper Berlin. Katelyn has performed at Germany’s Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival and Japan’s Pacific Music Festival, and was a viola fellow at Aspen Music Festival and School.

Originally from the south suburbs of Chicago, Katelyn began playing the viola in her public school’s orchestra program at age nine. She was a member of the Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestra and participated in Illinois’ All State Orchestra Festival three times. Katelyn earned her Master of Music and Performer Diploma in Viola Performance at Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music, and her Bachelor of Music in Viola Performance and Music Education at University of Michigan. Her primary viola teachers were Stephen Wyrczynski, Atar Arad, and Yizhak Schotten.

Katelyn’s mission as a teacher is for each of her students to become life-long music learners. She currently teaches violin and viola at the Homewood School of Music, and maintains a private studio of her own online and in-person in Birmingham, AL. Previously, she taught beginner violin classes at Fairview Elementary School in Bloomington, IN and at the Ypsilanti Youth Orchestra in Ypsilanti, MI. She completed her student teaching in Saline, MI, where she taught beginning strings, middle school strings, and fiddle club. She has maintained a private violin/viola studio since 2013. Katelyn encourages her students to pick their own repertoire so the lessons are both an educational and a fun experience. She is available and interested in teaching violin or viola to students of any age and any level.