"I have followed her musical career closely and I can assure you that the young pianist possesses exceptional talent and great musical sensitivity!"

- ALICIA DE LARROCHA

Pianist Katia Michel has already dazzled critics with her “great musicality and poetic elegance,” as well as her “great intelligence and brilliant technique.”  Since her debut when she was 17 playing the second Rachmaninoff Concerto, she has performed extensively in France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, and the US, in addition to her native countries of Spain and Switzerland.

She has been featured soloist with many orchestras, including the Swiss and Spanish Radio and Television Orchestras, the Böhmische Kammerphilharmonie, l’Orchestre Régional de Cannes, the Barcelona Sinfonietta, the Sinfónica del Vallès, and the Real Orquesta Simfónica de Sevilla with conductors U. Schneider, P. Bender, U.Munt, J. Mena, G. Voronkov, P. Béran, F. Llongueres, and P. Romano.

Katia has been invited to festivals throughout Europe, including Barcelona’s Piano Festival, Gstaad New Years Festival, Antibes Génération Virtuoses, Schubertiada de Vilabertran, Festival el convent de Blanes, Musique en Guyenne, and the Segovia Festival.  She has given recitals in many important halls, such as Barcelona´s Auditori and el Palau de la Música, the Teatro de la Maestranza in Sevilla, the Teatro Monumental in Madrid, the Mallorca Auditorium, the Stadttheater in Chur, la Salle des Abeilles in Geneva, the Kammermusiksaal des Beethovenhaus in Bonn, and the Royal Dublin Society Concert Hall. 

Beginning with her first award at the age of 7 in Stresa, Italy, her success in competitions has made Katia one of Spain’s best known young players.  She has garnered first prizes at the Concurso Permanente de Juventudes Musicales de España in 2004, the Andorra International Competition, and the national competitions of Vilafranca, Toledo, Palma de Mallorca, Berga, and Linares. She was the official representative of Spain in the European Federation of Youth Competitions, and was a finalist of the 2000 “Grand Prix Eurovision” for young musicians in Lugano, Switzerland.

Ms. Michel has studied with Claude Frank at the Yale School of Music earning a Master of Music and an Artist Diploma, with scholarships from ‘La Caixa’ and Le Prix d’études Pour-cent culturel Migros.  Prior to studying in the US, she worked two years with Dmitri Bashkirov at La Escuela Reina Sofia in Madrid and in Barcelona with Stanislav Pochekin at the Liceo Conservatory and Teresa Monteys at the Marshall Academy. In 2004, she received the Virtuosité SSPM in Geneva.  She has also worked extensively with pianists Ilan Rogoff, and with the late Alicia de Larrocha, whom she first played for at the age of 8.  In masterclasses, Ms. Michel has played for Joaquín Achúcarro, Boris Berman, Peter Frankl, Vitaly Margulis, John Kimura-Parker, and Joaquín Soriano, among others. 

Ms. Michel has participated in the recording of the piano pieces of the Catalan composer Xavier Montsalvatge, published by Columna Música and in the CD “Buena nota” published by Fonocom. Katia has also recorded for the television stations TSI,TVE and TVC and for the radio stations Catalunya música and Radio Nacional. Upcoming projects include a CD recording of Recuerdos de Viaje and Suite Española of solo piano works by Albéniz.