In François Couperin’s L’art de toucher le clavecin, he stresses la belle souplesse (suppleness) and soft, flexible hands required for harpsichord playing; that the search for this most perfect touch was the objective of the clavecinistes before him. Enamored with this search for la belle souplesse, harpsichordist Caitlyn Koester embodies the same spirit in her approach, demonstrating what makes the instrument so enchanting.

Hailing from the beautiful Pacific Northwest, Caitlyn surrounded herself with music in a multifaceted way from a young age. Throughout her childhood, piano lessons led to an enthrallment with learning the varied likes of Bach inventions, Elton John songs, and writing her own music. By high school, Caitlyn was dabbling in jazz and classical chamber music, accompanying local musicals, and helping to raise money for music education. Her performances in Portland and Seattle with Ten Grands raised money for countless young people in the PNW to gain access to music lessons, and jumpstarted a passion for involvement in arts education. Today, Caitlyn is on faculty in the Music Theory and Music History departments at San Francisco Conservatory of Music, and on performance faculty teaching keyboard instruments at Pacific Union College in the Napa Valley.

During her own education, she was lucky to fall under the mentorship of harpsichordist Joseph Gascho, who through his influence revealed a true love for playing the harpsichord and early repertoire. Caitlyn is a graduate of the Historical Performance programs at the Juilliard School and San Francisco Conservatory of Music, and studied both piano and harpsichord while pursuing a Bachelor of Music at the University of Michigan.

Caitlyn has played under the direction of celebrated conductors and musicians including Monica Huggett, Rachel Podger, William Christie, Masaaki Suzuki, Robert Mealy, Alfredo Bernardini, and Jonathan Cohen, and studied with harpsichordists Peter Sykes, Richard Egarr, Béatrice Martin, Joseph Gascho, and Corey Jamason. She was the featured harpsichord soloist in San Francisco Conservatory’s performance of Bach’s D Major Harpsichord Concerto, and the Juilliard415 Orchestra’s performance of Bach’s 5th Brandenburg Concerto for Music Before 1800.

In addition to a busy performance schedule, Caitlyn has cultivated a presence in arts administration since the age of 14. She began as a volunteer with Portland Piano International. While at the University of Michigan, Caitlyn worked as an Artist Services and Programming intern for the University Musical Society. Over summers, she interned at SFCM Pre-College, San Francisco Performances, and San Francisco Opera, where she created and called supertitles for Merola Opera Program performances. During her graduate education in New York, Caitlyn worked in PR and marketing for classical musicians as the Office Manager for 8VA Music Consultancy. 

As a performer, Caitlyn is active across the country as a harpsichordist and director. She has directed and assistant directed for organizations including dell’Arte Opera and i Cantori Carmel, most recently music directing Il Ritorno d’Ulisse for dell’Arte Opera’s 2022 summer series. Alongside violinist Shelby Yamin she was a Resident Artist at St. John’s Episcopal Church SF, where the two curated monthly concerts for the community in 2022 / 2023. She was is a member of The Diapason’s “20 Under 30” class of 2023. Caitlyn’s ensemble AKOYA with violinist Naomi Dumas is a grant recipient from Early Music America and the Canadian Council for the Arts, and looks forward to their premier studio album release with ATMA Classique in December 2023. Finding music of the 17th and 18th centuries to exemplify genuine humanity, Caitlyn aspires to maintain a musical career as a harpsichordist, director and educator who exposes and nurtures a love of this repertoire among wider audiences in the United States.