Crushing Classical

Katherine Needleman is a musician from Baltimore, Maryland, USA. She was introduced to music in the formerly robust music education programs of the public school system, having played violin, clarinet, oboe, keyboards, and percussion there. She was accepted to the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia at age 16 and dropped out of high school to attend. Later, she was expelled for academic incompetence by the Juilliard School in New York a month after winning their oboe concerto competition. She has played the oboe professionally for a long time now and has observed her own feelings about being one of the few women included change over time. She is very interested in the potential of music and tries to write some herself. She is interested in the relationship between composers, performers, and the stage. Recent musical highlights for Needleman include accompanying her cellist daughter in the Haydn C Major Concerto at a middle school assembly, a recital where most everything felt right and good at a retirem