Debbie Cation
Cello
Debbie Cation began playing piano at age six, and cello at age eleven. She began private studies with Emporia State University faculty cellist Edwin Stuntzner when she was thirteen, and began performing with the ESU symphony at the same age. Debbie was the principal cellist in the All-State Orchestra her senior year. She also performed with the Wichita Youth Symphony throughout her high school years. As a freshmen at the Emporia State University, Debbie played with the Great Plains Trio the first year of its inception. She married her husband, Mark, her sophomore year, and went on the obtain her Bachelor of Arts in Music from ESU, studying under Craig Hultgren and Steven Packer. Debbie has a background of working with children, including running a home daycare, substitute teaching, teaching in a Montessori preschool, and was the director of two child care centers. In the many places they have lived, Debbie has continued to teach privately and to perform whenever there was an opportunity. Debbie and her husband, Mark, have lived in Ottawa for 10 years. They have 3 children: Adam, Jennifer, and Michael, and 3 grandsons. Debbie works as a receptionist for Elizabeth Layton Center in Ottawa. She enjoys playing in the Ottawa University Orchestra and with the OSSI quartet.