Mary Dawood Catlin

International pianist and recording artist Mary Dawood Catlin has performed as a soloist in the USA, Canada, France, Belgium and Austria. She is a proud member of The Recording Academy (Grammy® Awards) and of the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (CARAS/Juno Awards).

CAREER HIGHLIGHTS    Debuts at Carnegie Hall, New York and at the Musikverein, Vienna; becoming a Bösendorfer Artist; world premiere of “Wind” by French composer Sylvain Guinet; broadcasts on Canadian and American radio; the worldwide release of her album “Nostalgia” produced at Studios 7eme Ciel and distributed by Indie Pool ; associate member of The Recording Academy and delegate member of the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences since March 2017; performances for the Governor General of Canada (Rideau Hall, Ottawa); performances for the Canadian Music Competitions Association in their Embassy Concert Series (Ottawa, Canada); performances for Saint-Merry’s Church and the American Church in Paris concert series (Paris, France)

ALBUM    Released worldwide in December 2016, “Nostalgia” features Mary’s recordings of timeless piano classics by Bach, Beethoven, Satie, Rachmaninov as well as an original piece that she composed. It also includes a booklet insert of pictures, famous quotes and her own prose and poetry in the liner notes. 

RADIO BROADCASTS    Mary’s album “Nostalgia” has been broadcast on The Grand 101 FM (Fergus, Ontario, Canada) on Tom Quick’s program “Women in Music” and on WWUH 91.3 FM (West Hartford, Connecticut, USA) on Stephen Petke’s “Thursday Evening Classics”. She was also broadcast on CBC Radio 2 101.3 FM (Ottawa, Ontario, Canada) on Gary Hayes’ “Artscape”.

COMPETITIONS    Laureate of the Grand Prize Virtuoso International Music Competition (Vienna, Austria); the American Protégé International Competition of Romantic Music (New York, USA); the Young Artists Competition of CBC Radio Canada and CBC Radio 2 (Ottawa, Canada); participant at the Kiwanis Music Festival (Ottawa, Canada)

PIANO POETICS    In 2012, Mary created and produced her first “Piano Poetics” recital of piano-prose-poetry.  Described as a new and innovative approach to the performance of classical music, created and performed in both French and English, Mary unites the arts on stage, bringing the history of music to life by reciting her own prose and poetry about notable composers.  She then performs selected works by each composer.  Miss Dawood was selected as a speaker and performer at the XIIth International Congress on Musical Signification in Belgium where she was invited to perform her piano-prose-poetry recital.

EDUCATION     Royal Conservatory of Music piano performance program; Bachelor of Music (with honours) degree in piano performance from the University of Ottawa (Canada); Master of Music (with honours) degree in musicology from the Sorbonne University in Paris (France); currently in the final stages of a Doctorate of Music (PhD) degree in musicology from the Sorbonne, specializing in the history of France and of the pianists in Paris during the Parisian Belle Époque.

TOUT CE TEMPS, AVEC TOI, AMOUR !   The writer and poet Michel D. Gauthier  published a book of poetry, Tout ce temps, Avec toi, Amour ! The book was dedicated to Mary Dawood and includes poetry inspired by her musical performances and her album “Nostalgia”. He also included pictures from the pianist’s photo sessions with photographers Natalia Cristobal Rivé and Alejandro Rumolino.

Born and raised in Canada, and after living in France for more than 10 years, Mary Dawood Catlin is currently sharing her time between Ottawa, Paris and Florida. She is a proud member of the International Alliance for Women in Music (IAWM) and of the Alliance Internationale (Anciens de la Cité Internationale Universitaire de Paris).  She is also a proud supporter of the Vimy Foundation, and of the Canadian and American troops and veterans for whom she holds an extremely important and special place in her heart.