“I had the pleasure of having my music interpreted by Pablo Catalão, and I saw in him a musician with a rare analytical and expressive ability. He possesses all the qualities required to perform both contemporary music and the great piano repertoire. His commitment to understanding a piece at its deepest level allowed me to see my own work from a completely different perspective. Working with a musician of Catalão's artistic nature is undoubtedly an enriching experience for any composer.”
“Pablo is an incredibly intelligent pianist. His compositional talents are equally impressive and I foresee a beautiful musical career ahead of him.
With a keen interest in recording techniques and acoustics he forms as it were his own 'musical world': composing a piece, playing it and on top of that professionally recording it!”
“I finally listened to your recordings of the Brahms Op.117. I can’t imagine a clearer reading. They are wonderful. Chapeau! Many people would enjoy and profit from hearing you play.”
Hello there!
My name is Pablo Catalão, and I am a pianist, composer, and music teacher currently living in Basel, Switzerland. My artistic profile is somewhat exotic, primarily due to my Brazilian heritage, the artistic tradition in my family, and the influence of Christianity in my life.
As an artist, my primary goals are to communicate and serve through music. Serving does not mean simply pleasing others nor showing superiority in skills or intellect. Rather, it means contributing to the common well-being, encouraging and challenging growth, and bringing light and beauty into the world. Serving focuses not on the self, but on others.
Music truly is my passion and plays an essential role in my life. Sound itself is a tremendous gift present in nature, an abundant resource too vast and rich to be wholly comprehended by the mind. Yet, like all materials, sound has properties—both possibilities and limitations—which our minds are mysteriously able to organize as a language for communication.
The following teachers and professors shaped my musical genealogy: Alan Belkin, Ronald Brautigam, Alan Weiss, Pedro Burmester, Sylvia Thereza, Myrian Dauelsberg, Daniel Burlet, Márcia Assunção, Debora Vidal, Mônica Mendonça, and Maria João Pires.
The following institutions were responsible for my education: The Hochschule für Musik Basel in Switzerland, the Lemmensinstituut in Belgium, the Escola Profissional de Música de Espinho in Portugal, and the Escola de Música Santa Cecília in Brazil.
As a student, I was blind to the work and investment that these people and institutions did for me, but now I see that I owe much of who I am to them. I will never be able to repay them, but I am profoundly thankful for their work and for the environment they provided.