Kathryn Bates, cello

Before there was SF, there was:

Concord, MA, so I consider Boston my home city and I know a lot of Revolutionary War history.
4 years in Houston at Rice University. Throw in a year in Pittsburgh, PA, and the rest have been in San Francisco first for school, then work.

Why Music?

I’ve always felt things that I couldn’t find words to express properly. Like they didn’t have the right shape or space. Music for me is a place to tell stories, to share the inexpressible, to create castles, existing only for a moment in time and space, in which we can be with people.

You’re a nerd.

One time after a long day of recording, we were in a restaurant booth with a chalkboard. I wrote down the 50 digits of Pi I have memorized plus a few more and spent dinner trying to memorize the next 15.

What is your patronus?

All I can say is that I think it’s utterly amazing (and efficient?) how otters store snacks in the armpits, especially since they have to eat about ¼ of their weight in food each day.

Do you drink soup or eat soup? 

Something I love about Del Sol is our curiosity about language, food, history, and etymology, and our ability to carry these lively discussions sometimes over many years. We argue over the correct verb to consume soup (I’m the sole Del Soler who argues for “eat soup and eat soup only..” We spend hours discussing food migration, especially foods originating in the Americas that have changed other cuisines radically (for me, oh my, chiles!!)

What never fails to make you smile?

There is something infectious about people genuinely enjoying something - whether that’s someone after a concert who was really moved by the music or your 4-month old baby girl discovering her own toes for the first time.