Emilie Catlett recently moved to the Eugene area to pursue her Ph.D. in ethnomusicology at the University of Oregon. Originally from Texas, Emilie began her musical pursuit as a contest fiddler under the tutelage of Dale Morris Sr and earned her Bachelor of Music in viola performance from the University of Houston. She then took her classical studies to Boston where she earned a Master's Degree in viola performance. Afterwards, she returned to Texas to refocus her attention on her original love, Texas-Style fiddling, this time through the lens of ethnomusicology. She earned a second Masters at Southern Methodist University for this purpose, submitting her thesis on Texas-Style fiddling in May of this year, earning her a Masters in Musicology and the Roy and Sue Johnson Thesis Award.
Emilie has strived to honor both her fiddling roots and her classical education in a teaching career that spans multiple states, skill levels, age groups, and styles. She has given clinics on viola-fiddling through the American Music System camps in Charleston, Boston, and Baltimore, and she has appeared as a guest artist at the Garth Newell Allegheny Mountain Strings program in Warm Springs, VA. She has consistently taught private lessons in Houston and Dallas area public schools, as well as through various programs in Boston. Her students have won seats in various youth orchestras and have routinely attended various fiddle camps. She has an eclectic musical resume including two albums recorded with her college roots band, UH American Roots Ensemble (a.k.a. “Cougar Roots”), appearances in various local orchestra’s viola sections, and the hosting of a weekly classical open mic at a Boston pub.
Emilie’s non-musical interests include a voracious reading habit, crochet, and Star Trek. She can often be found doing one or more of these things in the company of her spouse and their cat, Neelix. Students are advised to mention favorite books at their own risk.
I believe that a music education should reflect the person pursuing it. For that reason, I am more interested in teaching the whole person than I am in shaping them to fit a specific mold. I consider the student who took years to retrain their impulse to stop and chide themselves after a mistake just as much of a success as the student who won their first outside youth orchestra audition. Happy students are musically curious, and are therefore more likely to play for the rest of their lives. I hope that any student who passes through my studio sees that there is more than one way to live a musical life.