Originally from Cherry Hill, NJ, a suburb of Philadelphia, Katherine began playing the violin at age 10. Since then she has enjoyed serving as concertmaster and in the violin section of numerous orchestras in Philadelphia, Chicago and Florida where her playing was described by the Palm Beach Arts Paper as “lovely, poised and accomplished”. Katherine currently serves as a section violinist with the Sarasota Orchestra and the Southwest Florida Symphony Orchestra and subs regularly with the Jacksonville Symphony.
Throughout her career, Katherine has had the privilege of performing under such prestigious conductors as Michael Stern, Carl St. Clair, JoAnn Falleta, Guillermo Figueroa, Marcelo Lehninger, Daniel Boico, Luis Biava and many others in such concert halls as Lincoln Center’s Avery Fisher Hall (NYC), Chicago Symphony Center, Kimmel Center’s Verizon Hall and Perelman Theater (Philadelphia), and the Adrienne Arsht Center (Miami). She has participated in prominent summer music festivals in Italy, Colorado, Philadelphia, St. Louis, New York and Kansas and served as an Artist Faculty at the Dali Quartet International Music Festival in Philadelphia.
Also an avid chamber musician, her string quartet won first prize in the 2016 Lyric Chamber Music Society of New York competition and gave their New York City debut concert in May 2017. She has been mentored by such quartets as the Penderecki Quartet, the Atrium Quartet, the Arianna Quartet and the Dali Quartet and by members of the Cavani and Bergonzi Quartets.
In 2008, Katherine made her solo debut at age 15 performing Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto with the NJ Ocean City Pops Orchestra and has since appeared as soloist with various other orchestras. In 2010 she was awarded the NJ Governor’s Award in Arts and Education and the same year, the mayor of Cherry Hill proclaimed April 12th “Katherine Baloff Day” in honor of her musical achievements and contributions to the community.
Katherine earned her Master’s Degree and Professional Performance Certificate in violin performance at the Lynn Conservatory of Music in Boca Raton, Florida with Tchaikovsky International Competition winner Elmar Oliveira and earned her Bachelor’s Degree from DePaul University’s School of Music in Chicago, where she studied with three-time international competition gold medal winner, Ilya Kaler (Sibelius, Paganini, and Tchaikovsky competitions). Katherine also enjoys teaching private violin students at Lynn Conservatory’s Preparatory School. She currently plays on a 2004 Benjamin Ruth violin.