Katie Mahan

Praised as “one of the most outstanding talents coming up today,” American pianist Katie Mahan is capturing the attention of audiences throughout the world for her innovative musical personality, poetic interpretations, and graceful, charming stage presence. She possesses an unquestioned technical mastery combined with a kaleidoscopic palate of tone colors, and has been recognized as “a daring and innovative performer.” A multi-faceted artist for whom music is an endless passion, Katie is at home in a broad repertoire, and is particularly distinguished as an interpreter of the music of George Gershwin – performing her own daring, exciting solo piano arrangements to standing ovations across the globe – Claude Debussy and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.

The daughter of a piano teacher and a solar physicist, Katie’s life has always been filled with music. She was first introduced to the world of live classical music at the age of two when she attended a performance of Mozart’s The Magic Flute at the Santa Fe Opera, and at the age of four, inspired by attending a performance of Gershwin’s An American in Paris given by the famous French piano duo, Katia & Marielle Labèque, Katie decided that she wanted to be a concert pianist. She subsequently began piano studies with her mother, Bobette Mahan, giving her first solo recital two years later at the age of six.

Katie’s greatest pianistic influence came from her studies with the celebrated French pianist Pascal Rogé, with whom she studied the music of the French Impressionists. Rogé – who traces his musical heritage directly back to the great French tradition of Debussy and Ravel – was not only an important pianistic influence on Katie, but also inspired her to devote years of study to the search for understanding of French music, art and stylistic tradition. Today, Katie’s playing epitomizes the French style of elegance, beauty and poetry. Thomas Veszelits of the Münchner Abendzeitung described Katie’s Debussy thus: “Seasoned concertgoers who had already heard Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli, long acclaimed as the best interpreter of Debussy and Ravel, were impressed by Katie Mahan. With such richness of color, perfection of tone, and structural clarity, she takes her world class place alongside the Maestro.”

Since making her orchestral debut performing Gershwin’s Concerto in F with the Breckenridge Symphony, Katie has appeared in concert throughout the USA, Europe, Canada, the Middle East, Russia and Japan. She has performed with such celebrated conductors as Jiri Belohlavek, Marin Alsop – who described her as a pianist “in the style of Clara Schumann“, Mikhail Golikov, and Lawrence Leighton- Smith, among others, and in such famous halls as the Konzerthaus in Berlin, the Prinzregenten Theatre in Munich, the great hall of the Moscow Conservatory in Moscow, the Mozarteum in Salzburg and the Smetana Hall in Prague. Katie has participated in master classes by such musicians as Lang Lang – who praised her as “a fabulous pianist…full of emotion and originality” – Simon Trpceski, and Michel Béroff, and has recently preformed with orchestras including the Prague Philharmonia, Colorado Symphony, West Virginia Symphony, Cheyenne Symphony, Colorado Springs Philharmonic, Boulder Philharmonic, Vancouver Metropolitan Orchestra, and the Wiener Residenz Orchestra, among others.

During the 2022-23 season, Katie will perform extensively throughout Europe and the USA featuring programs centered on the music of Mozart and Liszt. Recital highlights of the past seasons include her Salzburg recital debut in the great hall of the Mozarteum, her performance at the Liszt Festival in Raiding, her Klassik Open Air recital in Lichtenfels, Germany before an audience of 2000 spectators, and a tour of Russia presented by the American Embassy in Moscow highlighted by her Russian orchestral debut in the Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatory and a performance at the Platonov Festival in Voronezh. Further highlights include her debuts with the New Mexico Philharmonic and Allentown Symphony, and recitals and concerto appearances throughout the USA, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, and the Netherlands.

Katie’s extensive discography includes solo repertoire from Mozart to Bernstein. Her latest album “Once Upon a Time”, featuring music of Mozart and Liszt, was released on the Steinway & Sons label in October 2022. Her previous releases on the Steinway & Sons label include “Appassionata” (2020) with music by Beethoven and “Classical Gershwin” (2019) a CD + DVD set which includes an innovative music video of Gershwin’s beloved Rhapsody in Blue which, together with her Debussy CD “Clair de lune,” which has been praised as “a program to revel in and relish” (Fanfare Magazine), was selected by Lufthansa, Swiss Airlines, and Austrian Airlines to be presented on their in-flight entertainment programs on flights all over the world. Katie’s most significant recording to date, the Complete Solo Piano Music of Leonard Bernstein, was released by Deutsche Grammophon in 2018 in honor of the 100th anniversary of the composer’s birth, and in 2017 she also recorded an all-Gershwin LP for the Berliner Meister Schallplatten label’s Direct-to-disc format.

In addition to her CD releases, Katie is committed to finding new ways to bring classical music to younger audiences and is collaborating with Colorado Public Radio on a innovative project dedicated to  Mozart which combines a recording of the complete sonatas and fantasies live from the historic Schloss Mirabell in Salzburg with a video blog series called Mozart Snapshots in which Katie takes listeners on a journey through the life of Mozart in Salzburg.

In 2020, Katie was featured in the multi-award winning Deutsche Welle documentary “A World Without Beethoven” in which she discusses Beethoven’s influence on jazz alongside trumpeter Wynton Marsalis.  In 2019, she was selected for a collaboration with the Denver Art Museum for the production of a special edition CD entitled “Music in Monet’s Time” to accompany “Claude Monet: The Truth of Nature” the largest exhibit of Monet artworks to come to the US in more than two decades. Her recording of Debussy’s beloved “Clair de lune” accompanied the nearly 400 visitors through the exhibit of more than 120 paintings of Claude Monet.  She has also appeared on PBS, NPR, ORF, Ö1 (Austria), BR-Klassik (Germany), et al.

Katie was a protégé of Howard Waltz – himself a student of the legendary French pianist Robert Casadesus – and studied with Robert Spillman at the University of Colorado College of Music where she graduated with highest honors. In addition to performing, Katie devotes her time and talent to the support of various humanitarian, medical, and educational causes. Katie is a Steinway artist and was awarded the Classic Superstar 2008 award by the Berliner Salon.