Eyran Katsenelenbogen is a descendant of Rabbi Meir Katzenellenbogen (c. 1482 – 12 January 1565) who was born in Katzenelnbogen.[1] On July 28, 2012, Eyran Katsenelenbogen performed a concert at the town hall of Katzenelnbogen, by invitation of the Mayor of Katzenelnbogen, Horst Klöppel, in celebration of the town’s 700th anniversary.
A classically trained pianist with a jazz style, Katsenelenbogen has performed throughout the world. Venues have included the Iridium Jazz Club, New York; Teatro di Marcello, Rome; the Tel-Aviv Jazz & Blues Festival; the Bechstein Centrum, Hamburg; Mirrors Hall, Saint Petersburg; Scullers Jazz Club, Boston; Shalin Liu Performance Center, Rockport, MA; Saint Joseph Theatre, Scarborough, UK; and the Glenn Gould Studio, Toronto. Radio and TV appearances include WGBH (FM), WERS and WHRB, USA; BBC Radio York, UK; Israel Broadcasting Authority (IBA), and Radio Télévision Belge Francophone (RTBF), Belgium.
Katsenelenbogen's recordings have been reviewed by jazz publications such as Jazziz, JazzTimes, Jazz Journal International and All About Jazz, which stated in its review of Katsenelenbogen's previous release: "88 Fingers is truly a virtuoso's work. Perhaps Katsenelenbogen is most in league with Art Tatum for this fact: he sets the bar towards which other pianists must strive."[2]
Since 1996, Katsenelenbogen has held a faculty position at the New England Conservatory of Music (NEC) Preparatory School and School of Continuing Education in Boston. At NEC, he has pioneered innovative techniques for teaching improvisation to students with special abilities and diverse needs. As the first piano teacher of jazz prodigy Matt Savage, Katsenelenbogen helped kick off Savage's recording career at the age of seven with their CD One is Not Fun, but 20 is Plenty.
In addition to solo touring, Katsenelenbogen has also performed with his Pictures At An Exhibition: Classical Meets Jazz collaboration with Russian classical pianist Andrei Ivanovitch. Following performances in Germany and Russia, the American premiere of Pictures At An Exhibition: Classical Meets Jazz took place at Jordan Hall in Boston on May 24, 2009, and was released on DVD the following year.
In 2014, Katsenelenbogen has toured the east coast of China with pianist Tal Zilber. During their Piano Fight concert tour, Katsenelenbogen and Zilber performed at the Dalian International Conference Center, the Hai Tian Grand Theatre Hotel, the Weifang Culture and Art Center, the Taiyuan Poly Great Theatre, the Henan Art Center in Zhongzhou, the Wuhan Qin Tai Grand Theatre, the Xuzhou Concert Hall and the Hong Tai Center in Xiamen. In 2015, Katsenelenbogen returned to China alone for a tour titled Jazz and Classical Highlights China Solo Tour dedicated to his mother, Pnina Katsenelenbogen. During that tour, Katsenelenbogen performed fifteen concerts in various venues, including the Cathay Pacific Arts Center Concert Hall (November 20, 2015), the Wuhu Grand Theatre (November 28, 2015) and the Guangzhou Opera House (December 5, 2015).
In 2019 he released a solo album, titled Outstandards, with a concert tour that included venues in the U.S., Europe and the Middle East.
^Rosenstein, Neil. The Unbroken Chain: Biographical Sketches and Genealogy of Illustrious Jewish Families from the 15th–20th Century, Volumes 1 and 2, Revised Edition, CIS Publishers: New York, 1990. ISBN0-9610578-4-X
^Deshpande, Jay (March 18, 2009) "Eyran Katsenelenbogen: "88 Fingers" (2009)" All About Jazz
