Born in Israel in 1973, Amir Katz first began his piano studies with Hanna Shalgi at age eleven.
At the age of fifteen, he was already playing with the Haifa Symphony Orchestra and the Israel
Chamber Orchestra. After winning several national competitions and receiving a scholarship from
the America-Israel Cultural Foundation and the Clairmont Award, Katz moved to Europe,
supported by other fellowships, including a DAAD grant, to continue his studies with Sulamita
Aronovsky, Elisso Wirssaladze, and Michael Schäfer. At the International Piano Academy on Lake
Como, he had lessons with Leon Fleisher, Karl Ulrich Schnabel, and Murray Perahia. In four
international competitions Amir Katz won first prize: Maria Canals in Barcelona, Robert Casadesus
in Cleveland, Viotti Valsesia in Italy, and the Schubert Competition in Dortmund.
Amir Katz now receives concert invitations from orchestras and festivals around the world. He performs in the most distinguished halls in Europe, Asia and North America, such as the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris, the Rudolfinum in Prague, the Tonhalle Zürich, the Philharmonie in Berlin and the Lincoln Center New York. Additionally, he has given concerts at international music festivals, such as the Savannah Music Festival, the Festival de Radio France et Montpellier, as well as the Oleg Kagan Musikfest Kreuth. His concerts are regularly recorded for radio and television. Mr. Katz has played a number of times with the Orquestra Sinfònica de Barcelona, the Israel Camerata, the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra, the Chamber Symphony of Princeton, the Orchestre National de Lille, the Dortmunder Philharmoniker, the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen, the Prague Chamber Orchestra, the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra and the Münchener Philharmoniker.
In the last seasons, Amir Katz's intimate relationship to the cantabile works of romantic piano literature has been reflected in four great cycles performed worldwide: he has paraphrased the complete Sonatas and Impromptus by Franz Schubert, the 48 “Songs Without Words” by Felix Mendelssohn as well as Frédéric Chopin's 21 Nocturnes. Katz has recorded various CDs for the Live Classics label, Oehms Classics and Sony Classical. His double CD of Felix Mendelssohn's “Songs Without Words”, released by Live Classics, was chosen best CD of the last months by the classical music magazine crescendo in its summer edition 2009. On his debut at the Miami Piano Festival with Frédéric Chopin's 21 Nocturnes in April 2011, the Miami Herald printed this review: “Katz seems in fact to understand the entire cycle as a great drama, a journey through joy, beauty and desperation. Katz demonstrated an impressive sense of artistic daring, dauntlessly steering the music clear of existing artistic conventions. A large part the cycle evolved in a fresh and moving manner – a remarkable artistic achievement.”
In autumn 2011, a tour will take Amir Katz to Berlin, Dortmund, Dresden, Leipzig, Munich and to the Vienna Musikverein. A release of his new recording of Chopin's four Ballads and four Impromptus will follow soon thereafter on the Oehms Classics label.
Amir Katz now receives concert invitations from orchestras and festivals around the world. He performs in the most distinguished halls in Europe, Asia and North America, such as the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris, the Rudolfinum in Prague, the Tonhalle Zürich, the Philharmonie in Berlin and the Lincoln Center New York. Additionally, he has given concerts at international music festivals, such as the Savannah Music Festival, the Festival de Radio France et Montpellier, as well as the Oleg Kagan Musikfest Kreuth. His concerts are regularly recorded for radio and television. Mr. Katz has played a number of times with the Orquestra Sinfònica de Barcelona, the Israel Camerata, the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra, the Chamber Symphony of Princeton, the Orchestre National de Lille, the Dortmunder Philharmoniker, the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen, the Prague Chamber Orchestra, the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra and the Münchener Philharmoniker.
In the last seasons, Amir Katz's intimate relationship to the cantabile works of romantic piano literature has been reflected in four great cycles performed worldwide: he has paraphrased the complete Sonatas and Impromptus by Franz Schubert, the 48 “Songs Without Words” by Felix Mendelssohn as well as Frédéric Chopin's 21 Nocturnes. Katz has recorded various CDs for the Live Classics label, Oehms Classics and Sony Classical. His double CD of Felix Mendelssohn's “Songs Without Words”, released by Live Classics, was chosen best CD of the last months by the classical music magazine crescendo in its summer edition 2009. On his debut at the Miami Piano Festival with Frédéric Chopin's 21 Nocturnes in April 2011, the Miami Herald printed this review: “Katz seems in fact to understand the entire cycle as a great drama, a journey through joy, beauty and desperation. Katz demonstrated an impressive sense of artistic daring, dauntlessly steering the music clear of existing artistic conventions. A large part the cycle evolved in a fresh and moving manner – a remarkable artistic achievement.”
In autumn 2011, a tour will take Amir Katz to Berlin, Dortmund, Dresden, Leipzig, Munich and to the Vienna Musikverein. A release of his new recording of Chopin's four Ballads and four Impromptus will follow soon thereafter on the Oehms Classics label.
