Catherine Van Handel joined the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra as principal bassoon in January of 2017 as one of Edo de Waart’s last appointments. Prior coming to Milwaukee, Van Handel held a tenured position as associate principal bassoon with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra. While studying at the Curtis Institute of Music, she held the principal bassoon position with the Harrisburg Symphony Orchestra. Van Handel has performed as guest principal with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, and Grant Park Orchestra. In addition, she has played with numerous other orchestras across the country, including the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the Philadelphia Orchestra, National Symphony Orchestra, Kansas City Symphony, Virginia Symphony Orchestra, and Richmond Symphony Orchestra.

As a soloist, Van Handel appears regularly with the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra. She has also had solo engagements with the Philadelphia Orchestra, "The President’s Own" United States Marine Band, and the Juilliard School Pre-College Orchestra, among others.

An esteemed educator, Van Handel has served on the faculties of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, as well as the University of Toronto in Canada and Brevard Music Center. She has given master classes at numerous institutions, including the New World Symphony, National Youth Orchestra of the United States of America, Curtis Institute of Music Summerfest, National Orchestral Institute and Festival, Glickman Popkin Bassoon Camp, and Escuela de Artes Musicales in San José, Costa Rica.

She has participated in several music festivals, including Marlboro, Tanglewood, Mainly Mozart Festival, Pacific Music Festival, and Music Academy of the West, to name a few. In January of 2023, Van Handel released an album of bassoon and piano music titled Bassoon Soirée: From Latin America to Paris. Coinciding with her solo debut album release, she performed as soloist with the MSO and recorded David Ludwig’s Pictures from the Floating World.

Van Handel received a Bachelor of Music degree from the Curtis Institute of Music, where she studied with Daniel Matsukawa. Born in Taipei, Taiwan, Van Handel began her musical studies playing the piano at the age of four and the cello at the age of five. She continued playing both piano and cello until beginning to play the bassoon at age fourteen. Her bassoon teachers also include Joyce Kelley and Marc Goldberg.