KATEŘINA CHROBOKOVÁ ORGAN AND VOICE

KATT (Kateřina Chroboková) is an internationally renowned organist and harpsichordist. Besides performing classical music, she also creates her own compositions, combining in a singular way the sound of the organ with electronics and voice. Such music is featured on the album titled KATT (SU 4189–2), that was released by Supraphon on 18 March 2016. Her pieces blend various worlds connected by spiritual themes. KATT herself has branded her new album as being a watershed in her career.

Studies at prestigious schools (the Schola Cantorum Basel among them) and collaboration with outstanding orchestras (Anima Eterna, the Royal Flemish Philharmonic, etc.) have led KATT to masterful performance of music ranging from Bach to young composers of her own generation. And her intuition and fascination with the vast sonic potentialities of the organ have led her even further – to creating her own pieces and, ultimately, to employing her own voice. She draws inspiration from the songs of the earliest Christian traditions, from sacral architecture, as well as the atmosphere of the moment.

“The organ has always fascinated me owing to its variety of timbres. As a friend of mine, the Mexican composer Felipe Juan Waller, says, it is actually the oldest synth in the world. Those people who do not frequent organ concerts are mainly only familiar with the monumental sound of the plenum. They, however, often do not know that this monster, which can send shivers down your spine, may by means of beautiful flute registers turn into an ethereal fairy. And the organ has countless numbers of such characters and bizarre timbre qualities,” is how KATT perceives the organ.

The new CD contains recordings of pieces by Bach, Messiaen and Pärt, splendidly and singularly performed on the wonderful four-manual organ of the Basilica in Echternach, Luxembourg’s oldest town. For a recording encompassing such a broad range of style and genre, KATT needed a large instrument capable of producing a great variety of timbres.

She adds in this respect: “I was first brought behind the organ at the splendid Basilica in Echternach by my friend Thierry Origer, who was working there as a titular organist. Both the instrument and the cathedral enthralled me. Therefore, when I was planning the new Supraphon album, the choice of the recording place was clear – Echternach! What is more, it was Thierry who began calling me KATT.”

The album also includes three of her own pieces, which KATT refers to as follows: “I was advising the composers on how to make better use of the organ’s immense potential for so long that ultimately I began creating my own works. My first composition was Slavkof, which is, naturally, featured on the CD. I still remember how I played at the church in Slavkov and suddenly started to improvise, which opened to me an entirely new universe. This gave me the feeling of liberation and ease, so I started to get down to things that had previously not even crossed my mind. I began using my own voice, for instance, first as an ‘extended’ register of my instrument. Later on, I plunged into writing my own texts too. When I started to compose and play my own music, I had a feeling that I had never experienced when performing pieces by someone else. Composing is the true expression of who I am.”

The Supraphon debut of KATT (Kateřina Chroboková) was be released on 18 March 2016 on a CD and digitally. KATT will soon be giving a recital at the international organ festival in Landsberg, and in the autumn she is scheduled to perform a series of concerts in Germany and France.

For further details please visit:
www.katt-music.com