Hailed for her virtuosity and vibrant musical spirit, bassoonist Eleni Katz has established herself as a prominent soloist, chamber musician, and orchestral player. Her “thoughtful and expressive” (San Diego Union Tribune) approach to music making has led her to performances by the bright blue waters of Bermuda to the lights of Carnegie Hall . Eleni is a winner of the 2022 Concert Artist Guild Competition and has performed with the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, the Jupiter Chamber Players, the Nu Deco Ensemble, the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra, the Sarasota Orchestra, and as a member with the New World Symphony.
As a classically trained singer from Iowa City, Katz has always believed that the bassoon should emulate the organic nature of the human voice. After watching a recital, her approach to playing the bassoon has been described as “uncannily human” (The Royal Gazette). In 2021, she commissioned and premiered “Sea Glass Partita for Singing Bassoonist” with composer Lila Meretzky. Drawing its lyrics from a poem that Eleni composed, the piece interspersed bassoon performance with singing and visual projections. Since the performance of this work, Eleni has commissioned several other works for bassoon that are multidisciplinary experiences by Tanner Porter, Harry Castle, and Richard Brasseale. On May 31st, 2024 Eleni Katz co-released an album of Richard Brasseale’s composition Enlaced Friendship. A piece based off of Eleni’s original poetry and premiered at the New World Symphony in April of 2023.
Eleni received her B.M. at University of Wisconsin’s Mead Witter School of Music under Marc Vallon. She earned her master’s degree at the Yale School of Music, studying with Frank Morelli. During her time at Yale, she was the winner of the Yale Philharmonia’s 2019 Concerto Competition, a finalist for the Eastern Connecticut Symphony’s Instrumental Competition, and recipient of the Thomas Daniel Nyfenger Prize for demonstrating “the highest standard of excellence in woodwind playing.”