Based in New York since 2001, Kathleen is a South African-born pianist, composer and producer. She has performed throughout North America, Europe, Southern Africa, China and India in venues including New York’s Carnegie Hall, Paris’ Théâtre du Châtelet and Berlin’s Pierre Boulez Saal. She has appeared on a host of recordings of classical, world music and multi-genre recordings, and has produced numerous recordings and inter-disciplinary programs from Cape Town to Los Angeles. She has created her own unique language at the piano, made up of techniques she developed and experimented with to expand the piano into a full electro - acoustic orchestra.

She has performed live on WQXR New York, WGBH Boston and France’s RFI Live, and her work has been profiled on NPR’s Morning Edition (Jon Kalish), and in publications such as Le Monde, Bandcamp Daily, Mezzo TV, BBC Magazine, the New York Times and the Guardian.

Her work and compositions focus on identity, ideas of connection and sound exploration, and has been heard on five continents, from the Lucerne Festival & Festival Aix-En-Provence to the Melbourne Opera House, South African National Arts Festival to the Köln Philharmonie and the USA’s National Gallery. All of her projects reflect her strong desire to connect as a human being first and foremost, and to constantly engage with the world around her.

“Throughout their compelling duo set, Tagg joined prepared piano to electronics in increasingly brilliant applications”
- Bill Milkowski, Downbeat Magazine

Her work has been released on record labels NAXOS, Ossia Records, Table Pounding Records, Alpha Classics and Gallo Africa, and she has been praised for her combining of “outstanding technique with deep musicality”. A 2014 South African Music Awards nominee for best classical or instrumental album, she has performed in concert with some of the world’s leading musicians, and the remarkable breadth of her collaborations defines her multi-faceted career. In 2014 she released a recording of the songs of Jake Heggie with American soprano Regina Zona on the NAXOS label. Her album Breath & Hammer with Grammy-nominated duo partner David Krakauer was released on their own Table Pounding Records, as was her recent project which she co-created and produced, Mazel Tov Cocktail Party. Her project Where Worlds Collide with great South African jazz pianist Andre Petersen was praised by the London Jazz Times as being: “An open-minded mix of traditions, and the bravura technique they also share. The results are reflective and exuberant, by turns, and enormously enjoyable throughout.”

Kathleen is a graduate of the Manhattan School of Music, (which awarded her the Helen Cohn Award as outstanding Doctoral Graduate), Mannes College the New School (MM) and the University of Cape Town, and her principle teachers were Nina Svetlanova, Graham Fitch, Lamar Crowson and Claudine van Breda. She is also indebted to all her teachers in harmony, counterpoint and orchestration (in particular Shirley Gie at UCT); her cello, chamber and orchestra instructors, as well as her incredible collaborators who taught her so much. She was a 2017 Exploring the Con Edison Exploring the Metropolis composer in residence, and a 2014-15 Dramatist Guild fellow.

Current Touring Projects:

KRAKAUER & TAGG: MORE TOURING PROGRAM INFORMATION HERE
ALBUM: BREATH & HAMMER (2020)

1. Breath & Hammer Electric
2. The Ties that Bind Us (Immersive Multi-Media)
3. Breath & Hammer Acoustic

“...You almost have to take their word for it when they tell you it is nothing but clarinet and piano..." -John Schaefer, host of WNYC New Sounds

"…Krakauer joined with the adventurous South African pianist Kathleen Tagg in an exciting new duo project known as Breath & Hammer. At the peak of their conversation, Krakauer sailed through virtuosic passages before taking off on a passionate, soul-stirring improvisation…Throughout their compelling duo set, Tagg joined prepared piano to electronics in increasingly brilliant applications."
– Bill Milkowski, Downbeat Magazine

"‘Breath and Hammer’ is a masterful and joyous journey that rewards and delights the listener every moment of the way. I was beaming through the entire album, reinvigorated by the energy and imagination of each track and so happy to know that David Krakauer and Kathleen Tagg have made a musical adventure that pulls us out of the static isolated silence of our fraught time. They have found a way to give music a huge refreshing burst of energy only true explorers are able to give. They bound to ecstatic heights of fantasy and show us a new bright path forward."
-David Harrington, violinist & founder of the Kronos Quartet

TAGG-PETERSEN DUO: MORE TOURING INFORMATION HERE
UPCOMING USA TOURING PERIODS: SEPTEMBER 2021 & MAY 2022
ALBUM: WHERE WORLDS COLLIDE (2017)

“Captivating for its exploration of a myriad of sonorities… technical virtuosity and perfectly syncronized rhythmical complexity”
- Jeffrey Brukman, CUE MAGAZINE

“An open-minded mix of traditions, and the bravura technique they also share. The results are reflective and exuberant, by turns, and enormously enjoyable throughout.”
- Jon Turney, London Jazz Times

The Tagg-Petersen Piano Duo brings together two of South Africa’s most celebrated pianists, one eclectic classical and one jazz artist, in a unique collaboration. Drawing from the rich sonic tapestries of classical music, nuances of South African jazz and traditional musics from sub-Saharan Africa, this duo explodes the concept of what 2 pianos can sound like... a bass guitar, goema drum, marimba and uhadi- plus mixing fully composed scores with improvisation in a bold, vital and highly entertaining mix. Performances of original compositions that “invoke the sounds and smells of Africa…” (CUE Magazine) live side by side with works by iconic South African jazz composers such as Abdullah Ibrahim, Bheki Mseleku and Moses Molelekwa. Kathleen Tagg and Andre Petersen powerfully merge music toward an expression of a reflective narrative of thought and sound that bring to the world stage three decades of African dialogue. 

MAZEL TOV COCKTAIL PARTY: MORE TOURING INFORMATION HERE
UPCOMING USA TOURING PERIODS: JULY 2022
UPCOMING EUROPEAN TOURING PERIODS: NOVEMBER 2021, APRIL 2022
ALBUM: MAZEL TOV COCKTAIL PARTY (DUE: OCTOBER 2021)