Violinist Kate Stenberg is a leading interpreter of contemporary chamber music. She has been commissioning new works by composers around the globe for the past three decades. Stenberg performs regularly with pianist Sarah Cahill. The Stenberg|Cahill Duo is committed to promoting American experimental chamber music and expanding its repertoire by commissioning new works. This year the duo plans to premiere new works by composers Roscoe Mitchell and Pamela Z. Recently, Kate Stenberg and violinist Irene Sazer have created The Mycos Project whose mission is to expand awareness about climate change through the arts, ecological sciences and Indigenous wisdom.

Violinist, Kate Stenberg is a leading interpreter of contemporary chamber music. NewMusicBox describes her playing as “highly virtuosic and deeply communicative…”. She has premiered hundreds of solo and chamber works that have taken her around the globe. Her recordings are available on New World Records, Sono Luminous and Other Minds, with a recent premiere release of Lou Harrison's Sonata for Unaccompanied Violin.

Stenberg also performs with the Stenberg|Cahill Duo who is committed to promoting the American experimental music tradition and expanding its repertoire by commissioning new work. The duo recently premiered works by Roscoe Mitchell, Pamela Z and Lars Petter Hagen. They have played at SF Performances, MIT and Berkeley Chamber Performances. She is also co-founder of The Mycos Project, whose mission is to expand climate change awareness through the arts, ecological sciences and traditional ecological knowledge.

Stenberg developed and commissioned music as co-founder of the Real Vocal String Quartet and Left Coast Chamber Ensemble and for two decades served as first violinist of the award winning Del Sol String Quartet. For many years she has played on occasion within the San Francisco Symphony orchestra and currently she coaches adult chamber music at the Crowden School and maintains an active teaching studio.

A leading interpreter of contemporary chamber music, violinist Kate Stenberg's playing has been described by NewMusicBox as “highly virtuosic and deeply communicative…full of character and presence”.  As a champion of new music, Stenberg has premiered over a hundred solo and chamber works including compositions by Gabriela Lena Frank, Peter Sculthorpe, Chinary Ung, Mason Bates, Tania León, Charles Amirkhanian, Per Nørgård, Kui Dong and Larry Polansky. Her recordings are available on New World Records, Sono Luminus, Newport Classics, New Albion and Other Minds Records. Her latest CD release with Other Minds Records includes the world premiere recording of Lou Harrison’s Sonata for Unaccompanied Violin.

Currently, Stenberg performs regularly with pianist Sarah Cahill.  The Stenberg|Cahill Duo is dedicated to promoting the American experimental music tradition and expanding its repertoire through the commissioning of new work.  “Contemporary music fans are fortunate to have this simultaneously authoritative and approachable pair,” writes the San Francisco Classical Voice.  Stenberg|Cahill Duo appearances include performances at the Mendocino Music Festival, San Francisco Performances PIVOT, Berkeley Chamber Performances, Cal State Fullerton New Music Festival, Berkeley Museum of Art and Pacific Film Archive, Mills College’s Music in the Fault Zone Festival, and Other Minds New Music Séance. Venues they have performed at include San Francisco Performances PIVOT Series, Massachusetts Institute for Technology - MIT, Black Mountain College Museum + Arts Center, Berkeley Chamber Performances and Other Minds Festival. In 2022, the duo premiered works by Roscoe Mitchell, Pamela Z and Lars Petter Hagen.

In 2022, Stenberg founded The Mycos Project with Irene Sazer - a collective of multi-media artists, educators and scientists whose mission is to expand climate change awareness through the arts, ecological sciences and Indigenous practice.  In their first eco-art film Not Apart, Together they explore the beauty of birds in nature with art, photography and an original music soundtrack with live improvisation. The film also captures local Indigenous leaders and scientists voicing concerns about global warming, biodiversity and deforestation.

Kate Stenberg’s passion for chamber music led her to develop and commission new music as co-founder of the Left Coast Chamber Ensemble (1993-1998) and Real Vocal String Quartet (2004-2006) whose mission is to play all original music composed by members of the quartet. For two decades Stenberg served as first violinist of the award winning Del Sol String Quartet (1995 - 2015), which commissioned new repertoire by collaborating with emerging and established composers. The Del Sol Quartet twice earned the top prize of Chamber Music America’s ASCAP Award for Adventurous Programming.

Stenberg has collaborated with other organizations including choreographers Joe Goode Performance Group, Garrett + Moulton Productions and Nancy Karp + Dancers. She has also composed music for the Natasha Carlitz Dance Ensemble and The Mycos Project film Not Apart, Together. She frequently plays in the San Francisco Symphony and can be heard on recordings with the San Francisco Contemporary Music Players, New Music Works, and Maestro Ustad Ali Akbar Khan. Her festival performances have included Other Minds, Ojai Music Festival, Cabrillo, Centre Acanthes (France), Tanglewood, Banff (Canada), Nirmita Composer’s Institute (Cambodia/Bangkok), and Chengdu Contemporary Music Festival (China).  

Stenberg has maintained an active role as a music educator for the past forty years, calling on her experience as a soloist and collaborator, chamber and orchestral musician, improviser, composer and new music specialist. Along with private teaching she has presented many workshops over the years including masterclasses, residencies, composer readings, lectures and performances at conservatories, schools and universities. Some of those institutions include: The Manhattan School of Music, San Francisco Conservatory of Music, Peabody Conservatory of Music, MIT, CalArts College, University of California Berkeley, Dartmouth College, Northeastern University, University of New Mexico, The Crowden School, Young Audiences and Adventures In Music program at the San Francisco Symphony. Stenberg was also instrumental in creating a renowned and dynamic string quartet program in the Bay Area called Del Sol QuartetFest for young chamber musicians. Stenberg's students have won numerous competitions, enjoyed playing in many chamber ensembles and orchestras and gone on to become professional classical violinists, improvisors and fiddlers.

Bay Area native Kate Stenberg grew up in a household of professional musicians. Her late father, Donald Stenberg was a baritone and cherished professor at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music for 40 years. Her mother is JoAnn Stenberg, a widely respected pianist and music teacher in the Bay Area. Kate Stenberg holds degrees from the San Francisco Conservatory and the Eastman School of Music.  When she is not immersed in her music scores, she can be found enjoying Taiji or hiking trails in her beloved Sierra Nevada.