About Katrina Wreede
Katrina Wreede is a celebrated American composer, violist, and music educator, widely recognized for her tireless advocacy of strings in jazz and contemporary chamber music. Her innovative "California Eclectic" style seamlessly blends classical traditions with elements of folk, world music, and jazz, reflecting a career dedicated to pushing stylistic boundaries. A former member of the groundbreaking Turtle Island String Quartet, Wreede has profoundly influenced the perception of the viola, elevating it as a versatile and deeply expressive instrument capable of conveying a full spectrum of human emotion, a mastery acknowledged by jazz historian Leonard Feather.
- Jazz historian Leonard Feather once praised Katrina Wreede for her "extemporaneous mastery, rare, perhaps unique, in the annals of the viola."
- Beyond her musical career, Wreede has held a fascinating array of professions, including a belly dancer, a police finger-printer, and a strolling, rhinestone-studded "alto violinist" for royalty.
- In 2008, she founded "Composing Together," an organization that places professional composers and musicians in schools to create and perform new works, collaborating with thousands of Bay Area students.
- Wreede is known for her unconventional performance initiatives, such as "Drive-By Violas," where she and other violists performed in unexpected public spaces like a Boston fruit stand and bus kiosk.
Katrina Wreede's sheet music offers a rewarding experience for a diverse range of musicians, from late intermediate to professional levels, particularly those playing string instruments like viola, cello, and violin, as well as string quartets and trios. Her compositions and arrangements, distributed by Vlazville Music, are lauded for their engaging rhythmic complexities, extended tonal ranges, and a characteristic blend of humor with moments of melancholy. Performers will find her works, such as "Violaerobics" for technical development or her string quartet arrangements for weddings and school concerts, both challenging and immensely enjoyable. Her pedagogical approach, evident in her workshops on improvisation and composition, ensures that playing her music fosters creativity and a deeper connection to the expressive potential of string instruments.
