Kate was born in Skipton, Yorkshire in 1952. She studied music at Leeds College of Music and Trinity College of Music, London. She undertook further post-graduate study on being awarded an R Vaughan Williams Scholarship.
Kate's studies continued at Berklee College of Jazz in Boston, USA, specializing in jazz piano, arranging and composition.
She has sung with the New Philharmonia Chorus, Studium (Mallorca, Spain) and the Aldwyn Consort of Voices (Malvern, UK). She teaches piano, jazz piano, voice, contemporary vocals, and composition for GCSE and A level. Other work includes accompaniment, arranging and composition. Kate's compositions are both sacred and secular, and many are particularly for upper voices. She collaborates with the Jubilate author, Paul Wigmore.