Caitlin Quinlan is a cellist, vocalist, and songwriter from New York City currently living in Pittsburgh, PA. She began studying cello at the age of three and has been singing for as long as she had a voice. Though classically trained as a cellist, as a songwriter Caitlin’s influences come primarily from Blues, Jazz, and Soul, though other genres have also played a part.
Passionate about new music and collaboration she has enjoyed working on an eclectic range of projects involving music, theater, and dance. Most recently performing—playing, singing and acting—in a production of a new folk-rock musical 1969: The Second Man at the Ars Nova Theater Festival (June 2014). She loves performing the work of her friends and colleagues and bringing life to previously unheard music. Propelled by the desire to bring the transformative and emotional power of music to new audiences, it was in her junior year at Vanderbilt University where she was a founding board member for The Blair Salon Series, a concert series was programmed by students for students held at the Dean’s residence on the first-year campus. This series sought to break down the barriers of the concert hall for more personal and casual experience, ultimately making performances more effective and audience experience more enjoyable.
Caitlin is also an accomplished singer and songwriter and met her writing partner and friend Billy Livsey at the W.O. Smith Music School in Nashville where she was a teacher. She currently sings with the CMU Big Band and JIVE Jazz Choir and has sung with the Blair Big Band as well as at the Nashville Jazz Workshop. Caitlin's songs straddle many genres and have influences from Billie Holiday and Ella Fitzgerald to Daft Punk and Little Dragon.
She is currently pursuing her Masters of Music at Carnegie Mellon University under the instruction of Anne Martindale-Williams. Previous teachers include Felix Wang, Irene Sharp and Astrid Schween. She hopes to enjoy a career helping champion and perform new works and bringing the beauty and power of music to even the most skeptical of listeners. When she’s not playing music, Caitlin loves to cook—or mostly eat—make crafts, speak Spanish, and travel.