For two days, famous collaborator and University of Michigan professor Martin Katz has been working with

Martin Katz (left) talks with students and faculty while (right) Larry Hensel moderates the discussion on Thursday in the Fine Arts building. (Photo: DJ Bowman)

Called the “gold standard of accompanists” by The New York Times, Katz has traveled the world and had the opportunity to perform with a wide variety of singers, including Marilyn Horne, Frederica von Stade, Kathleen Battle and others. 

He has also recorded for RCA, CBS, BMG, EMI and Decca labels, according to his University of Michigan biography.

During his brief residency, Katz gave a demonstration of what professional coaching entails and also talked about his love of collaboration. 

In his lecture, he spoke of how singers and the pianists they perform with have an advantage in performance; the words. 

“The words tell me what I’m shooting for,” he said in one of his Thursday sessions. 

Katz has been performing as a piano collaborator for more than four decades but did not start that way. 

At the age of 5, he began piano lessons and, as a “socially awkward” child, had a difficult time making friends. It was not until high school when he discovered his love of accompaniment.

He was pulled into a choir room and asked to sight-read a piece for the choir. He said that the choir was made up of 80 people, but after he made it through his performance it really turned him on to accompanying. 

Thursday night, Katz gave a master class on Art Song, teaching  five UW students to better collaborate in their performances. 

Today, Katz will work with student conductors, coach more singers and hold a class for pianists regarding strategies for playing opera arias.

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