Kathryn Macintosh

Assistant Principal

Trombone

Photo by: JackClark

While in her early twenties, Kathryn joined the Edmonton Symphony as Assistant Principal trombone. Born in Montréal, she spent her formative years in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, where early experiences with piano lessons and choral singing ignited her enthusiasm for classical music. Kathryn attended Acadia University and the University of Toronto, where she majored in trombone performance under Gordon Sweeney. She enjoyed further studies with Dennis Miller and Pierre Beaudry, of the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal, and masterclasses at the Banff Centre and Domaine Forget.

In addition to the ESO, as an orchestral musician Kathryn has appeared with the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony, the Hamilton Philharmonic, the Calgary Philharmonic, and the Saskatoon Symphony. She has always been drawn to the intimacy of chamber music, and ever since her arrival in Edmonton, has been an initiator of projects for various smaller ensembles.

Kathryn is founder and artistic director of the C'mon (Chamber music old & new) Festival which, since 2013, has sought to draw more diverse audiences to classical music in Edmonton. Its unique programming juxtaposes traditional chamber music repertoire with adventurous, genre-blurring music of our time. Like so many other arts activities in Edmonton, the pandemic threw a wrench into the C'mon Festival's activities, although it did produce a documentary, "Chamber" (featured at the Edmonton International Film Festival in October 2021). Kathryn is looking forward to the festival returning to the Winspear Centre in July 2022.

A keen advocate for active transportation, Kathryn can be seen commuting year-round by bicycle with her trombone on her back.

Musically, Kathryn's first love is opera. As a nerdy teenager, she spent her Saturday afternoons glued to the Metroplitan Opera broadcasts. Her favourite opera composers include Verdi, Wagner, and Janacek.