K A T I E E R N S T : B A S S I S T & V O C A L I S T Katie Ernst is described by the Chicago Tribune as "a versatile bassist who plays in far-flung bands and sings with uncommon delicacy and authenticity." She is co-leader of the adventurous Chicago-based jazz trio Twin Talk, folk-jazz duo Wayfaring, and indie rock band Edith Judith. She has received widespread critical acclaim for her Dorothy Parker poetry song cycle Little Words, which premiered at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC. Katie Ernst is a touring member of indie folk band Iron & Wine. She is an active sidewoman in the jazz and improvised music communities of Chicago, and is a member bands including the Alvin Cobb Jr Trio, Mike Conrad Trio, John Raymond/S. Carey’s Shadowlands. She travels throughout the US as a guest artist/clinician for young musicians. She serves on faculty at Birch Creek Music Performance Academy in Door County WI for the Jazz I summer program. Ernst joined the board of directors for the Jazz Institute of Chicago in 2023 and is a teaching artist for their jazz residency program in Chicago Public Schools. Katie Ernst holds a Bachelor of Music in Jazz Studies & Contemporary Media and a Bachelor of Musical Arts from the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, NY where she studied double bass with Jeff Campbell and James VanDemark.