KATE CAMPBELL STRAUSS
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Kate grew up immersed in music. Nurtured by a musical family, excellent public schools, and mentors in her community, her passion for music began early. Kate explored a variety of instruments as a child and drew early inspiration from the vibrant live music scene of Western Massachusetts. She discovered her passion for jazz at a Sonny Rollins concert in 1997 and found her voice on saxophone less than a year later.

Kate earned her Bachelor of Arts at Pomona College, majoring in American Studies and minoring in Music. She explored music not just as a performer, but also as a historian and anthropologist. Pomona awarded her funding to  research jazz and R&B in post-World War II Los Angeles, a project that provided the foundation for her thesis on the Pan Afrikan People’s Arkestra. Throughout college, Kate continued her studies of music theory, piano, voice, and participated in a number of musical ensembles, including the college's choir and the jazz ensemble. She studied improvisation with trumpeter/cornetist Bobby Bradford at Pomona and with saxophonist Adam Kolker in her hometown of Amherst, MA.
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In 2012, Kate moved to Maine and became an integral part of the Greater Portland music scene, playing 150-200 gigs per year as a founding member of local bands Downeast Soul Coalition, The Hello Josephines, and Bess Jacques & The Strays and as a freelancer with dozens of other projects. After seven wonderful years in Maine, Kate's musical journey continues in her new hometown of New Orleans, where she is a graduate student at the University of New Orleans' Jazz Studies Master of Music Program.

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