Catherine Yates has studied with North Carolina Symphony Associate Principal cellist Elizabeth Beilman since she was five. She has occupied title chairs with the Triangle Youth Philharmonic, Enloe High School Symphony Orchestra, and Duke String School Youth Symphony. She is also an active chamber musician, performing in a piano trio as part of the North Carolina Chamber Music Institute, and in a string quartet with the Duke String School – Ciompi Collaborative string quartet program. She has won first place in concerto competitions with the North Carolina Symphony, Triangle Youth Philharmonic, and Duke String School Youth Symphony; and has performed in master classes with Zuill Bailey, Caroline Shaw, Mimi Zweig, the Eroica Trio, the Verona Quartet, the Borromeo Quartet, and the Aizuri Quartet.