Cat Cantrell is a nomadic musician based in Los Angeles
Enamored with the magic in orchestral music, Cat performs on oboe and English horn with symphonies in all corners of the US - from engagements with the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the New York Philharmonic, to the Sarasota Orchestra, the Boise Philharmonic, and more.
Based in LA since 2019, she can be heard on upcoming Redlands Symphony programs and around California in the 2025-26 season, including upcoming stints with the Fresno Philharmonic and Modesto Symphony Orchestra. Recent engagements have brought her playing to the Pacific Symphony, Redlands Bowl, Inland Master Chorale, Long Beach Symphony, and the San Diego Symphony.
A multi-faceted musician, in the 2024-2025 season Cat performed with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the West Coast Wind Quintet, created the original woodwind book for the musical “Upline”, played in churches around Los Angeles, and more.
For six seasons she was the English hornist for the Tucson Symphony Orchestra in Arizona, while living and freelancing in New York City. During that dual life, she had the privilege of performing multiple times in Carnegie Hall and in every hall at Lincoln Center. Cat has been a featured soloist with Double Entendre Music Ensemble playing in venues and parks around NYC and helped curate programs for DE featuring the Central Avenue Trio.
Hailing from an Air Force family, she is an eager traveler making as much good music (and eating as much delicious food) as she can along the way. Cat has worked with the Virginia Symphony, Huntsville Symphony, Great Falls Symphony, Louisiana Philharmonic, Juneau Symphony, American Ballet Theatre, and on orchestral tours of China and Europe.
Cat relishes opportunities to work with composers and to elevate new and unheard works - particularly those featuring the English horn. She has worked as rehearsal musician in various composer workshops and in conductor workshops and competitions in California, New York, and Virginia. She loves working with singers of all stripes, and has performed for opera companies, choirs, cabarets, and on albums for Country Western, Bluegrass, Jazz, Pop, Folk, and Metal artists.
Cat Cantrell is a Laubin Artist - her oboes are made of cocobolo, her English horn is grenadilla.
Cat has appeared on stage with drag queens, in musical theater pits, and on soundtracks for television and feature films.