Yuko Kato
Yuko Kato has performed as a soloist and collaborative pianist in the United States and internationally. She has performed recitals at the Banff Centre in Canada, Musiksalon Erfurt in Austria, Austin Chamber Music Center Festival in Texas, New Music Circle in St. Louis, Cedarhurst Center for the Arts in Illinois, Outside the Box New Music Festival, and on the Illinois Symphony’s Sunday at Six concert series. She made her New York solo debut at Carnegie Hall in 2004 as the winner of the Artists International Competition.
An active collaborator, Dr. Kato has worked with many renowned artists. She performed recitals with Grammy-nominated, internationally active mezzo-soprano Emily Fons; Schumann’s Piano Quartet with Philadelphia Orchestra concertmaster David Kim; and in masterclasses with Susanne Mentzer, Dawn Upshaw, Lucy Shelton, Margo Garrett, and Graham Johnson, as well as preeminent composers Jake Heggie and Libby Larsen at Songfest in Los Angeles.
Other collaborative performance highlights include presentations on Jake Heggie’s song cycle, A Question of Light at the Song Collaborators Consortia Art Song Festival in Pennsylvania and at the National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS) Central Region Conference; recitals of songs by John Alden Carpenter at the College Music Society (CMS) National Conference in Michigan and at the CMS Great Lakes Conference; and a performance of Ned Rorem songs on the Performers Showcase Recital at the CMS National Conference in Indianapolis.
She also performs repertoire that bridges the gap between popular music and concert music and presented a series of lecture-recitals on pianist Christopher O’Riley’s solo piano arrangements of Radiohead songs at the CMS National Conference in Spokane, Washington, the CMS Great Lakes Conference in Chicago, and the Illinois State Music Teachers Association Conference at Blackburn College. She was a featured performer on the Gala Concert at the National Conference on Keyboard Pedagogy (NCKP) and has twice performed recitals at the International Double Reeds Society (IDRS) Conference.
As an art song composer, Dr. Kato was nationally recognized by the National Federation of Music Clubs as the winner of the biennial Glad Robinson Youse Composition Award for “Nothing But Light,” and was selected as a fellow for the prestigious NATS Mentoring Program for Composers. “Nothing But Light” was also selected for performance at the CMS Great Lakes Conference in Chicago, where she performed it with baritone David Dillard on the Composers Concert. Her commissioned song from NATS, “A Dream Within a Dream” was premiered by the Cincinnati Song Initiative and is available from North Star Music.
Also available from North Star Music is “The Land of Nod” which she and Dr. Dillard premiered at the CMS Great Lakes Conference and later performed on the Composers Concert at the CMS National Conference in Michigan. Recognized as an active contributor of contemporary vocal repertoire, she was invited to present her songs at the NATS National Conference in San Antonio on the inaugural New Works for Voice Composer Showcase.
As a passionate advocate of performing works by living composers, Dr. Kato has had the privilege of working with Lori Laitman, Alan Louis Smith, Jodi Goble, Eric Moe, Dana Wilson, Michael Colgrass, Chen Yi, Greg Glancey, Richard Lavenda, Marc Mellits, and Shih-Hui Chen, and has premiered works by Graham Reynolds, Juantio Becenti, Emerson Eads, Rob Deemer, Kathleen Ginther, Armando Bayolo, and Frank Stemper.
Dr. Kato began her musical studies at the Colburn School in Los Angeles and holds a Bachelor of Music degree with honors in Piano Performance from Northwestern University, and Master of Music and Doctor of Musical Arts degrees in Piano Performance from Manhattan School of Music in New York. Her album with the Chiaroscuro Trio, “New People” is available on Albany Records.
Courses:
- MUS 140Q-540Q: Applied Piano
- MUS 205A: Advanced Harmony I
- MUS 205B: Advanced Harmony II
- MUS 540Y Applied Collaborative Piano
- MUS 566L Chamber Music