Artistic Director
Catherine Norton is a busy and versatile pianist specialising in the vocal repertoire, based in Wellington, New Zealand.
She studied with Thomas Hecht at Victoria University of Wellington, winning the VUW Concerto Competition, and after further study in languages became an Emerging Artist with New Zealand Opera. She completed her postgraduate studies in London at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama with Eugene Asti and Pamela Lidiard, where she was the winner of the Guildhall Accompanists' Prize, the Paul Hamburger Prize for duo, Concert Recital Diploma for an exceptional final recital, and was appointed an Artist Fellow. She received numerous other awards and scholarships, including the pianist’s prize at Britain's AESS National English Song Competition.
Catherine has been a Britten-Pears Young Artist, a member of the Young Songmakers' Almanac, and is an alumna of Austria's acclaimed Franz-Schubert-Institut for Lieder. She has appeared in recital in concert halls including the Barbican Hall, St John’s Smith Square, and LSO St Luke’s, and at the Oxford Lieder Festival, as well as around Great Britain and Europe.
She currently coaches privately, as well as for organisations including the Lexus Song Quest, and she is the official pianist for a number of competitions around New Zealand. She is in demand for vocal and instrumental recitals and is a frequent guest player in the NZSO.
She studied with Thomas Hecht at Victoria University of Wellington, winning the VUW Concerto Competition, and after further study in languages became an Emerging Artist with New Zealand Opera. She completed her postgraduate studies in London at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama with Eugene Asti and Pamela Lidiard, where she was the winner of the Guildhall Accompanists' Prize, the Paul Hamburger Prize for duo, Concert Recital Diploma for an exceptional final recital, and was appointed an Artist Fellow. She received numerous other awards and scholarships, including the pianist’s prize at Britain's AESS National English Song Competition.
Catherine has been a Britten-Pears Young Artist, a member of the Young Songmakers' Almanac, and is an alumna of Austria's acclaimed Franz-Schubert-Institut for Lieder. She has appeared in recital in concert halls including the Barbican Hall, St John’s Smith Square, and LSO St Luke’s, and at the Oxford Lieder Festival, as well as around Great Britain and Europe.
She currently coaches privately, as well as for organisations including the Lexus Song Quest, and she is the official pianist for a number of competitions around New Zealand. She is in demand for vocal and instrumental recitals and is a frequent guest player in the NZSO.