Kathleen Larson is an accomplished cellist and a dedicated and experienced teacher. As a registered Suzuki cello teacher, she loves combining her two passions: connecting with students and making music. In 2020, she completed the long-term training in Cello Suzuki Pedagogy (covering Suzuki’s philosophy, string pedagogy, and books 1-10) at the Cleveland Institute of Music with Teacher Trainer Abbey Hansen. Larson maintained a full studio for two years at Aurora School of Music in Cleveland, as well as taught privately in both Cleveland and Columbus. Currently, she teaches on the cello faculty at the Peabody Preparatory of John Hopkins University (where she began her studies with Gretchen Gettes at age 4). Through her vast teaching experience including 3-year-olds, those with differing abilities, and adults, she meets each student where they are with specific goals so that they can find joy in creating music to the best of their ability. 

Larson holds degrees in cello performance from Cleveland State University (MM) and University of Maryland (BM), where she studied with members of The Cleveland Orchestra and the National Symphony Orchestra. A winner of the Daniel Rains Solo Competition, she performed Tchaikovsky’s Variations on a Rococo Theme with the CSU Symphony Orchestra in April 2019. Larson studied with cellists Evelyn Elsing, David Teie, Alan Harrell, and Charles Bernard. She also has had the opportunity to play in master classes for Wei Yu, Norman Fisher, Peter Wiley, Peter Otto, and Bryan Dumm. 

During her time at CSU, Larson was the cellist for the graduate string quartet, which regularly performed at Cleveland State, as well as outreach concerts at local elementary, middle, and high schools. While at UMD, Larson’s quartet was awarded the honor of performing on Millennium Stage at the Kennedy Center. She also has performed several times at Carnegie Hall and the Eisenhower Theater at the Kennedy Center, joining Keith and Kristyn Getty and their band for their Christmas tour. Larson spent three summers as the cellist on staff for the Adirondacks Performing Arts Fellowship, performing in multiple concerts each week both in chamber and large ensembles.