A third generation musician, Katherine shares an unparalleled artistic lineage with students. She was trained in a direct line of teacher student relationships that's linked to historical music legends. She studied privately with her parents as well as other world-class teachers in piano, voice, flute, and dance. At age five she began performing as leading lady in a school play. Later that year, she sang her first jazz vocal solo. She went pro at fourteen and a year later was one of only thirty-two pianists worldwide accepted on scholarship to Tanglewood. There she took master classes with renowned concert pianists Leon Fleischer and Gilbert Kallish. After conservatory study she earned her BM degree Summa Cum Laude from Boston’s acclaimed Berklee College of Music and her MM from University of Miami Frost School of Music. 

Katherine’s parents shared a vision of music as an individual philosophy. Her mother was a concert pianist, composer and educator. She served as Director of New England Conservatory’s Wellesley Branch. Under Mrs. Farnham’s care a small music school begun in the basement of of a Unitarian Church quadrupled in size. The Preparatory Branch became one of the finest in the nation, teaching vocal and instrumental curriculum to young students. Mrs. Farnham was also a vocal coach for The Sante Fe Opera Company working with the world’s top singers as well as classical legends Igor Stravinsky and Paul Hindemith. She studied with European concert artist Madame Karin Dayas. Madame studied with her parents who studied with Franz Liszt, virtuoso pianist, composer and inventor of the piano recital. 

Katherine’s father was a trombonist, scholar, arranger, conductor and educator. He played with the US Army Band, took a master class with jazz legend Duke Ellington and toured as first trombonist with renowned conductor Arthur Fielder and The Boston Pops. He also toured with The Baltimore Symphony and taught music for over twenty years at the university level. 

Encouraged by her artistic heritage, Katherine began teaching piano and voice at eighteen, blending Old School and New School approaches. She is a Global Music Award Medalist, Billboard-charting singer/songwriter/pianist/producer leading sessions with legendary Grammy winner Kirk Whalum, Latin Grammy winner Nestor Torres and Grammy nominees Mindi Abair and Denny Jiosa. (For Artist Bio, click here.) She has many years of experience educating students in over 25+ musical genres in schools all over the nation. She has taught as Adjunct Faculty (Jazz & Broadway Voice) at two universities and has been invited to teach related subjects at several more. Her articles on singing and music have been published in several magazines and she has also written several books including “The Vocal Mentor” (Editor: Betty Farnham). Adjudications include music competitions in piano and voice including two years as Celebrity Voice Judge at Los Angeles Music Center’s Annual Spotlight Awards. 

She is passionate about teaching the universal language of music. Curriculum Vitae and a list of Student Successes is available upon request. She is the founder of the National Center for Contemporary Music www.nationalcenterforcontemporarymusic.org (coming soon).