Katie Mahan

Katie Mahan © Richard Matson, Jessica Oleksy

Praised for her unique personality and extraordinary musical sensitivity, American pianist Katie Mahan is quickly establishing herself as an artist of rare appeal. Her passionate performances have attracted audiences throughout the United States, Europe, Russia, Japan, and the Middle East, and she has been described as “a young pianist of unusual beauty whose playing encompasses not only the full range of virtuosity through enthusiasm and inner volcanic power, but also the deeper emotional side of music.” (Simon Trpceski, pianist)

Katie’s life has always been filled with music, and at the age of four she decided that she wanted to be a concert pianist. She subsequently began piano studies with her mother, Bobette Mahan, and gave her first solo recital two years later at the age of six. Katie made her orchestral debut in 1999 with the Breckenridge Symphony performing Gershwin’s Concerto in F, and has subsequently appeared with such celebrated conductors as Jirí Belohlavek, Marin Alsop (who described her as a pianist “in the style of Clara Schumann”), and Robert Lehrbaumer, among others. She studied with the celebrated French pianist, Pascal Rogé – who traces his musical heritage directly back to the great French tradition of Debussy and Ravel – emphasizing the music of Claude Debussy and Johannes Brahms.

Performance highlights of the 2011-12 season include recital appearances in Monte Carlo; Berlin, Germany; Copenhagen and Arhus, Denmark; Florence, Italy; Munich and Baden-Baden, Germany; Dubai, UAE; Vienna, Eisenstadt, and Seefeld, Austria; Lanzarote, Spain; Mumbai, India; and Denver, Colorado; as well as a series of all-Debussy recitals in the Strathmore “Music in the Mansion Series” in Maryland; the Roerich Museum in New York City; and Greenville, South Carolina. Concerto appearances include Beethoven’s Concerto No. 4 with the Wiener Residenz Orchester in Vienna, Austria; Chopin’s Concerto No. 1 with the Hopkins Symphony Orchestra; Brahms’ Concerto No. 2 with the Denver Philharmonic; and Gershwin’s Concerto in F with the West Virginia Symphony. Performance highlights of 2009 and 2010 included a solo recital in the Konzerthaus in Berlin, Germany, as well as recital appearances in Colorado, South Carolina, Ohio, New York; Munich, Ansbach, and Seefeld, Germany; Moscow and St. Petersburg, Russia; and Paris, France. Concerto appearances included a Trebbia Foundation 10th Anniversary Gala performance in Prague, Czech Republic of Tchaikovsky Concerto No. 1 with the Prague Philharmonia which was televised live throughout the Czech Republic and Slovakia, as well as performances with the Spartanburg Philharmonic, Cheyenne Symphony, Denver Young Artist Orchestra, Denver Philharmonic, Colorado Springs Philharmonic, Boulder Philharmonic, and Colorado Symphony.

Other recent performance highlights have included a recital debut in Prague, Czech Republic sponsored by the Trebbia Foundation, an organization dedicated to supporting and awarding exceptional talent in the arts; a recital debut in Berlin, Germany sponsored by the Berliner Salon; a recital in Moers, Germany in honor of Robert Schumann in which the Neue Ruhr Zeitung heralded her performance as “brilliant, masterly playing… associations with the young Clara Schumann were revived–she could have played like this”; a Colorado premiere of Clara Schumann’s Concertino in F minor with the Colorado Symphony Orchestra, and a world premiere of Canadian composer Michael Conway Baker’s Concerto Festiva with the Vancouver Metropolitan Orchestra.

Katie was recently awarded the prestigious 2008 Classical Superstar Award by the Berliner Salon, a Berlin-based foundation dedicated to discovering and furthering the careers of young and gifted individuals in the arts and sciences both in Germany and abroad, and is a prize winner in many national and international competitions. She received her Bachelor of Music in Piano Performance Degree from the University of Colorado at Boulder where she was a full-tuition scholarship student of Robert Spillman, and graduated with highest honors. Katie was a protégé of the late Howard Waltz, himself a pupil of the legendary French pianist, Robert Casadesus, and has participated in master classes by such musicians as Lang Lang, Simon Trpceski, and Michel Béroff. She has also studied with pianist-conductors Daniel Lipton in Germany and Robert Ward in Austria.

Katie has been featured on radio and TV in the USA, Germany, Canada, France, Czech Republic and Slovakia, and in such international magazines as SENSES Lifestyle Magazine (Germany), LEADERS Magazine (Czech Republic), and OK! Middle East – Celebrity News (Dubai). Recent CD recordings include “Rêverie” featuring music of Claude Debussy, “Liebestod” containing works of Chopin and Liszt, a recital program of Brahms, Rachmaninov, and Prokofiev, and “Fantasy” containing works of Schumann and Schubert. Katie is a Steinway Artist. For further information on Katie, please visit her website, www.katiemahan.com .

As of: October 22, 2011