Biography
Stephen Katz is one of the new breed of solo performers who uses live looping electronics to generate entire ensemble textures from a single instrument. In addition to his intricate and deeply rhythmic approach to strumming and plucking the cello, Stephen has distinguished himself as a composer of tightly composed cello pieces that unfold loop by loop in concert. His music subtly fuses the kinetic energy of contemporary dance grooves with an unerring instinct for satisfying the listener’s yearning to be transported beyond the concert hall.
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A cellist, vocalist, guitarist, and award winning composer, Stephen premiered many of his cello compositions at Carnegie Recital Hall and performs frequently with (6-time Grammy winning) Paul Winter Consort. He is a pioneer in the art of counterpoint strumming techniques for the cello and has developed a repertoire of highly rhythmic solo compositions that incorporate melody and accompaniment into a single, idiomatic cello part.
Stephen has worked extensively with dancers and choreographers, and is composer and music director of Wire Monkey Dance, has collaborated and performed with members of Pilobolus Dance Company, and has been a Visiting Artist at Amherst College. As a co-founder of the cello/movement/theater company Seen & Heard with the late dancer and monologist BJ Goodwin, he literally danced with the cello while accompanying the dramas they played out on stage.
As a film composer, Stephen’s score for The Rich Have Their Own Photographers won the Jury Prize Gold Medal for Best Use of Music in a Documentary at the 2007 Park City Film Music Festival. He also scored Two Miles Squared, a film about Hudson, NY.
Stephen’s solo recording First Person Singular features his songwriting, singing and guitar playing in addition to the cello, and was hailed by Connecticut Songsmith as "an incredible debut album by a new and important artist”. His recent releases (Looking Up and Earthdance) feature his looped compositions and improvisations. (Available @ iTunes) A native of San Francisco, Stephen received a Master of Music degree from the Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, and lives in Haydenville, Massachusetts with his wife Beth and son Olin.
MAJOR INFLUENCES
JS Bach, Steve Reich, Pat Metheny, Bobby McFerrin, Todd Rundgren, Nusrat Fateh Ali Kahn, Eberhard Weber, Ghazal, Hamza El Din, Tuck Andres.
Instrumentation
Stephen Katz: cello, bow, loop-making machinery.
Discography
Looking Up
Looped and multi-tracked, improvised and composed. A myriad of moving, musical spaces. Cello with some percussion and guitar. (iTunes, cdbaby)
Earthdance
An 80-minute improvised journey recorded live at Earthdance Retreat Center movement jams. All cello with some singing and percussion. Lyrical, expansive, uplifting. (iTunes, cdbaby)
First Person Singular
Debut recording of multi-tracked songs and instrumentals. A carefully crafted, poetic, far-ranging portrait of the artist. Cello, guitar, voice, percussion, et al. (iTunes, cdbaby)
Cello Music for Film and Dance
A 25-track collection - composed and performed by Stephen for multi-media projects. Ranges from sweet cello to deep grooves to driven drums & vocals.
Endangered Species
The soundtrack for the Wire Monkey Dance 2001 season epic entitled Endangered Species. Primal, kinetic, ecstatic. A vast array of instrumental, sampled, and ambient sounds.
Links
| http://www.stephenkatzmusic.com |