about
Olivia Katz is a radiant, engaging, and dynamic cellist, improviser, teacher, and composer with a passionate interest in contemporary classical music and free improvisation. Olivia strives to create an interactive, inventive, and accessible environment in which the audience is encouraged to experience music, art, and beauty through a new lens. In addition to musicians and composers, Olivia collaborates with playwrights, singers, painters, actors, sculptors, and poets in multiple contexts, and is dedicated to bringing artists’ visions to life. Currently in Boston, Olivia privately teaches many cello students in the greater-Boston area, regularly performs and records around the city and along the East Coast, composes text, graphic-based, and indeterminate pieces for various groups and individuals around the U.S., is on the administrative board of New Music Mosaic, and is the administrative assistant for the Boston-based contemporary ensemble Hinge Quartet. Olivia is in two ensembles around the East Coast: Moon Unit–an eccentric multi-instrumentalist trio that specializes in free improvisation, and Semiosis Quartet–a Boston-based string quartet dedicated to presenting a captivating and diverse contemporary classical repertoire.
experience
After graduating from Boston Conservatory in May 2024, most notably, Olivia has premiered Like the Sea Itself for cello and electronics by Tom Williams at the 2025 International Computer Music Conference hosted at the Boston Conservatory at Berklee, performed Howl by Lee Hyla with Semiosis Quartet and Brian Church at the Cambridge Multicultural Center, premiered and recorded Nō for cello, saxophone, and piano by YoungJun Lee at Peabody Conservatory, premiered Jeremy Flower’s A Series of Resolutions with Semiosis Quartet and Jeremy Flower for string quartet and synthesizer at the Prior Performing Arts Center in Worcester, MA, performed an opening set of free improvisation for Daniel Levin and Laurent Estoppey at Greensboro Project Space in Greensboro, NC, premiered isochronyl chrisolides for cello, violin, and piano by Kevin Kay at the Ohio State University, and performed Howl by Lee Hyla with Semiosis Quartet and Brian Church at the Cambridge Multicultural Arts Center. Additionally, Olivia had gotten their piece Moon Garden: Ten of Pentacles premiered by the contemporary ensemble Der Gestanke in Somerville, MA, their piece to be felt is never fleeting premiered by Moon Unit in Baltimore, MD, their piece I am better now, out of my head premiered by Rose Hegele and Hannah Elizabeth Tobias in Northampton, MA, their piece Wrapped in borrowed light for violin and piano premiered by CJ Smyth-Small and julz at the Ohio State University.
Summer 2025, Olivia participated as one of the ensembles in residence at New Music on the Point with Moon Unit, and was a fellow at the North Carolina Governor’s School. In Summers 2024 and 2025, the Semiosis Quartet participated in their 6th and 7th year of working as a resident string quartet in the High School Composer’s Intensive hosted at Boston Conservatory at Berklee.
In Spring 2024, Olivia graduated from the Boston Conservatory at Berklee with a Master of Contemporary Classical Music Performance. During their time at Boston Conservatory, most notably, Olivia played in the contemporary classical ensemble contraBAND, BoCoCelli, Felix Quartet, collaborated and performed with The Rhythm Method and Annika Sokolovsky, and premiered Marti Epstein’s Guggenheim piece In Praise of Broken Clocks with Sound Icon. Outside of Boston Conservatory, Olivia premiered eight works through New Music Mosaic, three works by doctoral composition students at Boston University, Elsie Bae Han’s act Natural~ as a soloist with string orchestra with the Horizons Ensemble, and had their own graphic score, Moon Garden: Three of Cups, premiered at the Swiss Institute by Duo Indigo.
In 2021 while living in Portland, Oregon, Olivia collaborated with and premiered Carmen Burbridge and Jack Aldisert’s UNEARTHED—a play in which Olivia shared the stage and accompanied the actors with solo cello for the entirety of the show, which was composed by Jack Aldisert and Olivia themself. Additionally, at the University of Puget Sound as a part of their undergraduate degree recital, they worked with Queer poets and created six short and indeterminate solo cello works that coincided with each poem.
Outside of cello performance, Olivia is currently the administrative assistant for the Boston-based contemporary ensemble Hinge Quartet and is on the board for New Music Mosaic. During their time at Boston Conservatory Olivia was chosen to speak on behalf of the Boston Conservatory at Berklee Music Department at the annual Named Scholars Tea, worked as an ESL tutor, and lead cello studio class during their professor’s sabbatical. Olivia has been a camp counselor, a nanny, and worked at a thrift store; they especially enjoy being in nature, seeing live music, and exploring museums and antique stores.
education
Olivia received their masters degree under Rhonda Rider and David Russell, and their Bachelor of Music in Cello Performance at University of Puget Sound under Alistair MacRae. They have also been a student of Sarah Brady, Kivie Cahn-Lipman, Diane Chaplin, Judith Eissenberg, Vimbayi Kaziboni, Mariel Roberts, Nancy Jo Snider, Brenda Villard, Alice Yoo, and Matthew Zalkind.
Between 2017 and 2025 Olivia attended the Cortona Sessions for New Music, Green Mountain Chamber Music Festival, and Brevard Music Center. New Music on the Point, Harvard Chamber Music Festival, and Longy’s Divergent Studio.