“Cataldi wasn’t your typical classically trained pianist - he was a rockstar and he brought the house down.” Dr. Matthew Cataldi has enjoyed a wildly versatile career as a soloist, collaborative artist, conductor, composer, and educator. He holds a BM from Florida State University, as well as MM and DM degrees in Piano Performance and Literature from Indiana University where he studied with Brazilian-born pianist Arnaldo Cohen. As a performer, he has appeared on the stages of Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Jazz at Lincoln Center, and the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, in addition to many other venues across the Americas and Canada. He gave his orchestral debut as a teenager playing Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No.3, and has recorded a documentary CD of Spanish and Latin American piano music which was accompanied by an international concert and lecture tour. He is also an experienced conductor and musical director in the theatre world, having premiered several new works in New York City in collaboration with Tony Award winning Broadway artists. As a composer and arranger, he enjoys bridging the classical and popular worlds, creating and presenting exciting new music that caters to his unique background and interests. Recent compositions and premiers include: “Variations and Fugue on a theme by Led Zeppelin” - a classical set of variations on the iconic rock song “Stairway to Heaven”, “Hail to the King” - a virtuosic medley of Michael Jackson’s greatest hits, and his most recent work, “24 Preludes in Popular Style after Chopin” - a transcription project that arranges all of Chopin’s Op.28 Preludes in a variety of popular genres, intended to introduce elements of popular music to classical piano students while equipping them with the tools and vocabulary necessary to traverse a diverse range of musical styles, released on Albany Records in 2022.
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