Katherine P. Solano, a violinist and Anne Arundel County public schools music instructor who was the founder of the Londontowne Symphony Orchestra, died of cancer Sept. 23 at her Severna Park home. She was 56.
Katherine Page was born into a musical family. Her father, Kenneth William Page, was the first conductor of the Annapolis Symphony Orchestra.
She was born in Baltimore and raised in Annapolis and Severna Park.
As a high school student, she played with the Annapolis Symphony under the direction of her father and, later, Leon Fleischer.
She was a 1970 graduate of Severna Park High School and earned a bachelor's degree in music in 1974 from Ithaca College in Ithaca, N.Y.
Mrs. Solano continued her music studies at the Peabody Conservatory and the University of Maryland, College Park. She also studied violin with George Orner and Yung-Ku Ahn.
Mrs. Solano, who had not retired, had been a string teacher in Anne Arundel County public schools for more than 30 years.
She was a founding member of the Baltimore Chamber Orchestra, the Mostly Baroque Symphony and the Columbia Chamber Orchestra.
In 2003, Mrs. Solano founded the Londontowne Symphony Orchestra, which The Baltimore Sun described in an article at the time as an "ensemble made up of music teachers, community players, advanced students and a smattering of professionals."
In addition to serving on the boards of the Londontowne Symphony and Annapolis Symphony orchestras, she also was a fundraiser for the arts in the Anne Arundel County public schools.
Services were held Sept. 26.
Surviving are her husband of 29 years, Rumano Solano, a bass player with the Richmond [Va.] Symphony Orchestra; a son, Diego Thomas Solano of Severna Park; her mother, Francis Ruth Page of Arnold; and three sisters, Susan Byrne of Center Valley, Pa., Barbara McCoy of Fort Mill, S.C., and Laura Page of Pittsfield, Mass.
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