She is a violist born in Tucson, Arizona to a musical family where her parents are music teachers and has siblings who are musicians that perform in the Houston, Tucson and Minnesota symphony orchestras.
She started out by learning the violin before turning to the viola and later graduated from the Juilliard School. She went on to become a member of the Dallas Symphony and the Seattle Symphony before joining the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in 1989.
With the orchestra she has performed as a soloist and as a chamber musician has taken parts in the CSO‘s Chamber Music series and appeared on CSO‘s MusicNOW.
Recordings she has performed on include Corigliano: Symphony No. 1, Wagner: Overtures and Preludes and Brahms: Violin Concerto/Sonata No. 3 by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Come On Up by Brian Culbertson, Christmas Celebration, Christmas Collection, Christmas in the Aire and Fresh Aire 7 by Mannheim Steamroller, Two Different Days by Rob Parton, Samuel Barber: The Lovers; Prayers of Kierkegaard by Andrew Schenck.
In the field of musical education she has been a faculty member teaching orchestral repertoire for viola at Northwestern University.
Sources:
- https://cso.org/about/performers/chicago-symphony-orchestra/viola/catherine-brubaker/
- https://cso.org/about/performers/chicago-symphony-orchestra/viola/catherine-brubaker/
- https://filammusic.foundation/artist-roster/catherin-brubaker/
- https://csoarchives.wordpress.com/tag/catherine-brubaker/
- https://www.allmusic.com/artist/catherine-brubaker-mn0001535937