Martha Strongin Katz
Encyclopedia
Martha Strongin Katz (born 1943) is a violist
and member of the faculty of the New England Conservatory of Music
(NEC) in Boston, Massachusetts, where she teaches viola and chamber music
. She was a founding member of the Cleveland Quartet
, along with her former husband, Paul Katz
(cellist), and Peter Salaff and Donald Weilerstein (violinists). From 1969 until her departure from the group in 1980, she performed more than 1,000 concerts, including appearances at the White House
, the Grammy Awards, on the NBC Today Show, and in the major concert halls of five continents.
A noted soloist, her appearances include a Carnegie Hall
performance of Berlioz's Harold en Italie with conductor Michael Tilson Thomas
, the Bartók Viola Concerto
with L'Orchestre de la Suisse Romande in Geneva, recital and concerto performances at the 1989 International Viola Congress, and countless recital and concerto appearances.
Strongin Katz plays a viola made by Lorenzo Storioni
of Cremona
in 1800.
Ms. Strongin Katz previously served as Professor of Viola at the Shepherd School of Music
at Rice University
from 1996–2000 and at the Eastman School of Music
, where she taught from 1976–1996. She has performed and taught at many summer music festivals, including: the Aspen Music Festival, the Banff
Center for The ArtsNew, the Interlochen Arts Academy, Kneisel Hall
in Bluehill, Maine, the Marlboro Music Festival, Musicorda at Mt. Holyoke College, the Perlman Music Program
in Shelter Island
, NY, the Steans Institute for Young Artists at the Ravinia Festival, the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival
, the Yale
Summer School of Chamber Music, and the Heifetz International Music institute.
She has served on the jury of several prestigious international music competitions, including the Walter W. Naumberg Viola Competition and the Banff International String Quartet Competition.
She studied violin with Raphael Bronstein
and Ivan Galamian
and viola with Lillian Fuchs
and William Primrose
, attending the Curtis Institute, Juilliard School of Music, Manhattan School of Music
, and the University of Southern California
.
In 1969, she was co-winner of the 1969 Geneva
International Viola Competition, where she also earned the Max Reger
Award.
The Recordings of the Cleveland Quartet, which appear on the RCA Red Seal label, received six Grammy nominations during her tenure. The quartet was joined by pianist Alfred Brendel
for a recording of the Schubert "Trout" Quintet on the Philips label.
She is the daughter of Edward I. Strongin, a research psychologist, and Marguerite Strongin (née Rosenblum), an artist who studied with Alexander Archipenko
. Her sister, Lynn Strongin, is a well-known poet living in British Columbia, Canada.
Violist
-Notable violists:A* Julia Rebekka Adler * Sir Hugh Allen , conductor* Kris Allen * Johann Andreas Amon * Paul Angerer , composer* Steven Ansell * Atar Arad * Cecil Aronowitz...
and member of the faculty of the New England Conservatory of Music
New England Conservatory of Music
The New England Conservatory of Music in Boston, Massachusetts, is the oldest independent school of music in the United States.The conservatory is home each year to 750 students pursuing undergraduate and graduate studies along with 1400 more in its Preparatory School as well as the School of...
(NEC) in Boston, Massachusetts, where she teaches viola and chamber music
Chamber music
Chamber music is a form of classical music, written for a small group of instruments which traditionally could be accommodated in a palace chamber. Most broadly, it includes any art music that is performed by a small number of performers with one performer to a part...
. She was a founding member of the Cleveland Quartet
Cleveland Quartet
The Cleveland Quartet was one of the world's leading string quartets for over two decades. It was founded in 1969 by violinists Donald Weilerstein and Peter Salaff, cellist Paul Katz and violist Martha Strongin Katz, at the Cleveland Institute of Music. The quartet subsequently disbanded in 1995...
, along with her former husband, Paul Katz
Paul Katz
Paul Katz is an internationally renowned American cellist, best known for his membership of the Cleveland Quartet. Katz currently teaches at the New England Conservatory following positions at Rice University and the Eastman School of Music. He serves on the National Advisory Board of the...
(cellist), and Peter Salaff and Donald Weilerstein (violinists). From 1969 until her departure from the group in 1980, she performed more than 1,000 concerts, including appearances at the White House
White House
The White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., the house was designed by Irish-born James Hoban, and built between 1792 and 1800 of white-painted Aquia sandstone in the Neoclassical...
, the Grammy Awards, on the NBC Today Show, and in the major concert halls of five continents.
A noted soloist, her appearances include a Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States, located at 881 Seventh Avenue, occupying the east stretch of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street and West 57th Street, two blocks south of Central Park....
performance of Berlioz's Harold en Italie with conductor Michael Tilson Thomas
Michael Tilson Thomas
Michael Tilson Thomas is an American conductor, pianist and composer. He is currently music director of the San Francisco Symphony, and artistic director of the New World Symphony Orchestra.-Early years:...
, the Bartók Viola Concerto
Viola Concerto (Bartók)
Béla Bartók's Viola Concerto, Sz. 120, BB 128 was written in July – August 1945, in Saranac Lake, New York, while he was suffering from the terminal stages of leukemia. It was commissioned by William Primrose. Along with the Piano Concerto No. 3, it is his last work, and he left it incomplete at...
with L'Orchestre de la Suisse Romande in Geneva, recital and concerto performances at the 1989 International Viola Congress, and countless recital and concerto appearances.
Strongin Katz plays a viola made by Lorenzo Storioni
Lorenzo Storioni
Lorenzo Storioni is considered one of the last of the classic Cremonese master violin makers/ Luthiers of the 18th century....
of Cremona
Cremona
Cremona is a city and comune in northern Italy, situated in Lombardy, on the left bank of the Po River in the middle of the Pianura Padana . It is the capital of the province of Cremona and the seat of the local City and Province governments...
in 1800.
Ms. Strongin Katz previously served as Professor of Viola at the Shepherd School of Music
Shepherd School of Music
The Shepherd School of Music is a university school of music located on the campus of Rice University in Houston, Texas. Shepherd School is itself very selective, accepting overall about 10-15% of all graduate applicants and 15% of all undergraduate applicants...
at Rice University
Rice University
William Marsh Rice University, commonly referred to as Rice University or Rice, is a private research university located on a heavily wooded campus in Houston, Texas, United States...
from 1996–2000 and at the Eastman School of Music
Eastman School of Music
The Eastman School of Music is a music conservatory located in Rochester, New York. The Eastman School is a professional school within the University of Rochester...
, where she taught from 1976–1996. She has performed and taught at many summer music festivals, including: the Aspen Music Festival, the Banff
Banff, Alberta
Banff is a town within Banff National Park in Alberta, Canada. It is located in Alberta's Rockies along the Trans-Canada Highway, approximately west of Calgary and east of Lake Louise....
Center for The ArtsNew, the Interlochen Arts Academy, Kneisel Hall
Kneisel Hall
Kneisel Hall is an annual chamber music festival and school located in Blue Hill, Maine. The season runs for seven weeks each summer from mid-June until early August. A small faculty works with approximately fifty pre-professional musicians, concentrating almost exclusively on chamber music for...
in Bluehill, Maine, the Marlboro Music Festival, Musicorda at Mt. Holyoke College, the Perlman Music Program
Perlman Music Program
The Perlman Music Program was founded by Itzhak Perlman and his wife, Toby, in 1995. The program is headquartered in Shelter Island, New York. It offers exceptionally talented young string players, aged 12 to 18, a six-week summer residential courses in solo performance, chamber music, string...
in Shelter Island
Shelter Island (town), New York
Shelter Island is a town and island at the eastern end of Long Island in the U.S. state of New York. It forms the tip of Suffolk County and is separated from the rest of the county by water. The population was 2,228 at the 2000 census.-Geography:...
, NY, the Steans Institute for Young Artists at the Ravinia Festival, the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival
Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival
The Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival is a six week long summer Festival of chamber music held annually in July and August and located in Santa Fe, New Mexico. It was founded in 1972 and presented its first series of concerts in 1973. Well-known musicians and young performers appear each season in...
, the Yale
YALE
RapidMiner, formerly YALE , is an environment for machine learning, data mining, text mining, predictive analytics, and business analytics. It is used for research, education, training, rapid prototyping, application development, and industrial applications...
Summer School of Chamber Music, and the Heifetz International Music institute.
She has served on the jury of several prestigious international music competitions, including the Walter W. Naumberg Viola Competition and the Banff International String Quartet Competition.
She studied violin with Raphael Bronstein
Raphael Bronstein
-Early life:He was born in a Jewish family in Vilnius, Lithuania and studied violin with Leopold Auer at the St. Petersburg Conservatory. He arrived in the United States in 1923 to take a job as an assistant to Auer. Mr. Bronstein had one daughter, Ariana Bronne, who taught at the Manhattan School...
and Ivan Galamian
Ivan Galamian
Ivan Alexander Galamian was an influential Armenian violin teacher of the twentieth century.He was born in Tabriz, Iran, but his family soon emigrated to Moscow, Russia. Galamian studied violin at the School of the Philharmonic Society there with Konstantin Mostras until his graduation in 1919...
and viola with Lillian Fuchs
Lillian Fuchs
Lillian Fuchs , an American violist, teacher and composer, is considered to be among the finest instrumentalists of her time. She hailed from a musically talented family: her brothers, Joseph Fuchs, a violinist, and Harry Fuchs, a cellist, performed with her on numerous commercial recordings...
and William Primrose
William Primrose
William Primrose CBE was a Scottish violist and teacher.-Biography:Primrose was born in Glasgow and studied violin initially. In 1919 he moved to study at the then Guildhall School of Music in London. On the urging of the accompanist Ivor Newton, Primrose moved to Belgium to study under Eugène...
, attending the Curtis Institute, Juilliard School of Music, Manhattan School of Music
Manhattan School of Music
The Manhattan School of Music is a major music conservatory located on the Upper West Side of New York City. The school offers degrees on the bachelors, masters, and doctoral levels in the areas of classical and jazz performance and composition...
, and the University of Southern California
University of Southern California
The University of Southern California is a private, not-for-profit, nonsectarian, research university located in Los Angeles, California, United States. USC was founded in 1880, making it California's oldest private research university...
.
In 1969, she was co-winner of the 1969 Geneva
Geneva
Geneva In the national languages of Switzerland the city is known as Genf , Ginevra and Genevra is the second-most-populous city in Switzerland and is the most populous city of Romandie, the French-speaking part of Switzerland...
International Viola Competition, where she also earned the Max Reger
Max Reger
Johann Baptist Joseph Maximilian Reger was a German composer, conductor, pianist, organist, and academic teacher.-Life:...
Award.
The Recordings of the Cleveland Quartet, which appear on the RCA Red Seal label, received six Grammy nominations during her tenure. The quartet was joined by pianist Alfred Brendel
Alfred Brendel
Alfred Brendel KBE is an Austrian pianist, born in Czechoslovakia and a resident of the United Kingdom. He is also a poet and author.-Biography:...
for a recording of the Schubert "Trout" Quintet on the Philips label.
She is the daughter of Edward I. Strongin, a research psychologist, and Marguerite Strongin (née Rosenblum), an artist who studied with Alexander Archipenko
Alexander Archipenko
Alexander Porfyrovych Archipenko was a Ukrainian avant-garde artist, sculptor, and graphic artist.-Biography:...
. Her sister, Lynn Strongin, is a well-known poet living in British Columbia, Canada.