Professor Martin Katz

"Martin Katz must surely be considered the dean of collaborative pianists,” said the Los Angeles Times last season. In 1999 Musical America created a new award for him: Accompanist of the Year. One of the world's busiest collaborators, he has been in constant demand by the world’s most celebrated vocal soloists for more than a quarter-century. He has appeared and recorded regularly with Marilyn Horne, Frederica von Stade, Jose Carreras, Cecilia Bartoli, Kiri Te Kanawa, Kathleen Battle, David Daniels, and Karita Mattila, just to name a few. Season after season, the world's musical capitals figure prominently in his schedule. Throughout his long career he has been fortunate to partner some of the world's most esteemed voices: Renata Tebaldi, Cesare Siepi, Katia Ricciarelli, Tatiana Troyanos, Lucia Valentini, Nicolai Gedda, Regine Crespin, Grace Bumbry, Monserrat Caballe and many others have invited him to share the stage in recitals on five continents.
Mr. Katz is a native of Los Angeles, where he began piano studies at the age of five. He attended the University of Southern California as a scholarship student and studied the specialized field of accompanying with its pioneer teacher, Gwendolyn Koldofsky. While yet a student, he was given the unique opportunity of accompanying the master classes and lessons of such luminaries as Lotte Lehmann, Jascha Heifetz, Pierre Bernac, and Gregor Piatigorsky. Following his formal education, he held the position of pianist for the US Army Chorus in Washington, D.C. for three years, before moving to New York where his busy international career began in earnest in 1969.
In more recent years, invitations to conduct orchestral evenings have come with increasing frequency. Mr. Katz has partnered several of his soloists on the podium for orchestras of the B.B.C., Houston, Washington, D.C., Tokyo, New Haven and Miami. His editions of works by Handel and Rossini have been presented by the Metropolitan, Houston Grand Opera and the National Arts Centre in Ottawa. He has also been pleased to conduct several staged productions for the University of Michigan’s Opera Theatre and the Music Academy of the West.
Finally, the professional profile of Martin Katz is completed with his commitment to teaching. Since 1983, Ann Arbor has been his home, where he has been happy to chair the School of Music's program in accompanying and chamber music, and play an active part in operatic productions. He has been a pivotal figure in the training of countless young artists, both singers and pianists, who are working all over the world. The University of Michigan has recognized this important work, making him the first Arthur Schnabel Professor of Music. Mr. Katz is the author of a textbook which covers all the facet of his art, “The Complete Collaborator,” published by Oxford University Press.