Martin Katz (pianist)

{{short description|American pianist, educator and conductor}}

Martin Katz (born November 27, 1945){{Cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/martin-katz-mn0001905996|title=Martin Katz Songs, Albums, Reviews, Bio & More...|website=AllMusic|access-date=November 27, 2024}} is an American pianist, educator and conductor, primarily known for his work as an accompanist.

Katz was trained as a collaborative pianist by Gwendolyn Koldofsky at the Thornton School of Music, part of the University of Southern California; where he was a member of the USC's music fraternity Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia.{{Cite web|url=http://delta-omicron.org/index00.html|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303203139/http://delta-omicron.org/index00.html|url-status=dead|title=Delta Omicron|archive-date=March 3, 2016|access-date=November 27, 2024}} He is also an alumnus of the Music Academy of the West.{{cite web|title=Alumni Roster, Vocal Piano|url=http://www.musicacademy.org/school/alumni/alumni-roster/vocal-piano|website=Musicacademy.org|access-date=17 January 2020|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120605020848/http://www.musicacademy.org/school/alumni/alumni-roster/vocal-piano|archive-date=5 June 2012|url-status=dead}} From 1966 to 1969, he served in the U.S. Army as a member of the United States Army Band (Pershing's Own) in Washington, DC and as a piano soloist and accompanist with the United States Army Chorus. When he returned to civilian life, he embarked upon a thirty year career that saw him collaborating with many of the most acclaimed classical singers of the day, including Marilyn Horne, Cecilia Bartoli, Kathleen Battle, Kiri Te Kanawa, Sylvia McNair, Frederica von Stade, Karita Mattila, David Daniels, José Carreras, Samuel Ramey, and Piotr Beczała.{{Cite web|url=https://musicacademy.org/iox-profiles/martin-katz/|title=Martin Katz • teaching artist|website=Musicacademy.org|date=August 29, 2024|access-date=November 27, 2024}} He also worked as a conductor, and prepared editions of baroque and bel canto operas that were performed at the Metropolitan Opera, the Houston Grand Opera and Opera Lyra Ottawa.University of Michigan faculty biography

Musical America's "Accompanist of the Year" in 1998, Katz has taught collaborative piano at the University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre & Dance. He is the author of the book, The Complete Collaborator: The Pianist as Partner.{{Cite book|url=https://global.oup.com/academic/product/the-complete-collaborator-9780195367959?cc=us&lang=en&|title=The Complete Collaborator: The Pianist as Partner|date=2009-06-01|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-536795-9|location=Oxford, New York}}