Masterclass Piano & Historical Fortepiano

November 15-16

Katharina Olivia Brand is a pianist specializing in both modern piano and historical fortepianos. Her interest in the field of performance practice, historical and contemporary, is a recurring theme through all her artistic and research activities. Her main focus lies in the music of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century as well as in the music of the present. From 2004 to 2011, she taught as a lecturer at the Ruprecht-Karls-Universität in Heidelberg. Since 2006, she has been teaching fortepiano and performance practice at the University of Music and Performing Arts Graz, Austria. As guest lecturer she has been invited to prestigious institutions in Europe and Asia, e.g. Folkwang University Essen, HMDK Stuttgart, UdK Berlin, Bach-Archiv Leipzig, VNAM Hanoi, UPD Manila, Mahidol University and PGVIM, Bangkok.

Katharina is dedicated to reviving lesser-known repertoire through innovative concert programming, such as Kreisleriana in the city!; Die Winterreise: A female perspective; Joseph Martin Kraus: Der Odenwälder Mozart; and CDs such as Blumenlese (Allegra), Arie antique (Allegra), Nachthimmel (Christophorus/SWR). As a soloist and as a member and founder of the ensemble Chambre d'écoute she has premiered a significant number of contemporary works at music festivals in Germany, Italy, The Netherlands. Since 2016 she has been commissioning composers to contribute to her project Hammerklavier – Neue Musik für ein altes Instrument, which has been documented by the Austrian radio (ORF). Through her lecture-recitals and articles, she promotes a critical discourse on performance practice, aiming to broaden perspectives on the artistry of performance.

Katharina received her education at the University of Music Karlsruhe, Germany in the classes of Naoyuki Taneda and Wolfgang Manz. She continued with graduate studies at the University of California at Los Angeles, USA. There she studied historical performance practice and fortepiano with Tom Beghin and modern piano with Vitaly Margulis. In 2001, she earned her Doctor of Musical Arts degree with a dissertation on rhetoric in Mozart's piano works. For her artistic contributions as a pianist and her active engagement in promoting both early and contemporary music, she has been the recipient of numerous awards and grants.