Caitlin Keen

Based in the San Francisco Bay area, Violist and Violinist Caitlin Keen is an active chamber musician and educator on both modern and baroque instruments. 
As a soloist on violin and viola she has performed with orchestras in Colorado, Massachusetts, and Pennsylvania. As principal violist, she has worked with the Merced Symphony Orchestra, Sinfonia Spirituosa, San Jose Symphonic Choir, Vallejo Choral Society, San Francisco Conservatory Orchestra, Smith College Orchestra, Island City Opera, Berwick Academy, the American Bach Soloists Academy Orchestra, among others. As a baroque violist, she has performed with the Jubilate Baroque Orchestra, Chora Nova, and collaborated with the San Francisco Conservatory on various projects as a guest artist. 

An experienced educator, she maintains a private studio in Alameda, California and has been teaching for over two decades. As a lecturer she has held posts at the University of California at Davis, Smith College, as staff at Johns Hopkins University, and as a substitute teacher at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. As a string coach for youth ensembles she’s worked with groups in Maryland and California, including the Youth Orchestra Gradus ad Parnassum, Music at Greenmount, and the Palo Alto Chamber Orchestra.

Viola, Violin, Viola D’amore


Caitlin is the founder and director of String Assembly, where she works towards equity and representation in classical music. She is a founding member of the Alameda String Teachers’ Collective in Alameda, California.

She holds a degree from Peabody Conservatory of Johns Hopkins University in Violin Performance, where she served as the representative to the Maryland Higher Education Commission, and a Masters of music from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music in Viola Performance. She additionally holds a Masters in Science in Sport and Exercise Studies from Smith College. 

While at conservatory Caitlin was an All American Rower and multi-year team captain at Johns Hopkins University. She coached collegiate rowing at both the NCAA division I and III levels, and co-founded the Notre Dame Preparatory Rowing program in Maryland.