Katayama (nee Morlan), Emily Jane

EMILY JANE KATAYAMA maintains a diverse career as a solo and collaborative performer, educator, and lecturer. She holds a Master of Music degree in harpsichord performance from the University of Michigan, where she studied with Edward Parmentier, and a Bachelor of Music degree in piano performance from the Wheaton College Conservatory of Music (Wheaton, IL).

A dedicated chamber musician, Emily is a founding member of the period ensembles New Comma Baroque and Antiqua Baroque Consort. She has also played continuo with the International Chamber Artists and the Fox Valley Symphony Orchestra chamber players. In her work as a solo harpsichordist, Emily performed the dedicatory recital at the Lectures in Church Music for Concordia University Chicago's harpsichord bequeathed from the estate of musicologist Dr. Victor Mattfeld. She has also presented recitals for the Academy of Early Music in Ann Arbor, as well as for the Harpsichord Clearing House's series at the Boston Early Music Festival. A member of Early Music America and the Historical Keyboard Society of North America, Emily owns and performs on her 1977 William Dowd French single manual harpsichord.

Eager to reach new audiences, Emily contributed for two years to Michigan Harpsichord Saturday, an educational community event featuring performances, lessons, and discussion to increase knowledge and appreciation of the harpsichord and early music. She continues to promote historical performance practice through her frequent collaborative lecture-recitals. Emily currently serves as the Director of the Piano Academy at North Central College (Naperville, IL), and teaches on the faculty of the Preparatory & Community Piano Program at Concordia University Chicago, in addition to maintaining an independent piano studio and serving as a church musician.