Ekaterina Uvarova is a guitarist and lutenist based in the Netherlands. Born in Siberia, she began her musical career as a classical guitarist. After graduating cum laude with the highest score for her Bachelor’s final performance in Moscow, she moved to the Netherlands to pursue a Master’s degree at Fontys Conservatory in Tilburg, where she studied with Johan Fostier, supported by a scholarship from the Dutch Ministry of Education, Culture and Science, and FHK.
In 2022, Ekaterina was admitted to the Early Music Department of the Royal Conservatoire in The Hague, where she studies renaissance and baroque lutes, theorbo, and baroque guitar with Mike Fentross (the Netherlands) and Joachim Held (Germany). Alongside her historical performance practice, she also studies romantic 19th-century guitar with Fernando Cordas (the Netherlands).
She is a prize-winner of the Dutch Guitar Foundation Competition (2022) and has received awards at 13 additional national and international competitions. Ekaterina has appeared as a soloist on Dutch national radio (NPO Radio 4) and Concertzender, and has performed in concert venues such as Muziekgebouw Eindhoven, Chasse Theatre Breda, the Tchaikovsky Concert Hall in Moscow, and historic churches throughout the Netherlands. Her festival appearances include Musica Antica (The Hague), Utrecht Fringe Early Music Festival (both on romantic guitar and theorbo), Leidse Hofjes Festival (Leiden), and Klassiek op het Amstelveld (Amsterdam). She performs regularly across the Netherlands, Belgium, Portugal (Madeira), and Russia.
As an ensemble musician, Ekaterina collaborates with Dutch choirs, period-instrument ensembles, and modern orchestras. She has performed with Philharmonie Zuid-Nederland under the direction of Peter Dijkstra and toured with the Hanseatic Ensemble led by Manfred Cordes. She is a member of several chamber ensembles and baroque orchestras, including Deliciae (Italian Renaissance and early Baroque music) and Ensemble de Cour (French court music), while also maintaining an active solo career. As a classical guitarist, she is a member of Muselia Duo (with violinist Alexandra Leonova) and the trio La Strada, performing regularly across the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, and Luxembourg.
In addition to her work in early and classical music, Ekaterina collaborates closely with contemporary composers. Her collaboration with Dutch composer Maurick Reuser has resulted in new works for solo guitar and chamber music, awarded two first prizes at a composers’ competition in Moscow in 2022. This collaboration formed the basis of her Master’s thesis, focusing on artistic collaboration between a guitarist and a non-guitar composer.
She has participated in masterclasses with leading figures of the classical guitar world, including Leo Brouwer, Raphaella Smits, Aniello Desiderio, Stepan Rak, Carlo Marchione, Rémi Jousselme, Thomas Müller-Pering, and Otto Tolonen.