Composer Profile

Catherine Likhuta

(1981–)

Hometown: Kyiv (Ukraine)

Living in: Brisbane, Queensland

Catherine Likhuta (b. 1981) is an Australian-based composer, pianist and recording artist. Her music exhibits high emotional charge, a programmatic nature, and rhythmic complexity. Catherine's works have been played throughout the United States, Europe, Australia, Canada, Mexico, and Brazil. Her music has enjoyed performances by prominent symphony orchestras such as the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra and Orchestra of the National Radio of Ukraine; chamber ensembles such as the Atlantic Brass Quintet, Ensemble Q, HD Duo, NU CORNO, U.S. Army Field Band Horns, PLEXUS, and Western Brass Quintet; and soloists such as Griffin Campbell, Ronald Caravan, Paul Dean, Michael Duke, Peter Luff, Trish O'Brien, Andrew Pelletier, Denise Tryon, and Adam Unsworth. Her pieces have been played at Carnegie Hall’s Stern Auditorium and Perelman Stage, the Glyndebourne Opera House’s Organ Room, five International Horn Symposia, two World Saxophone Congresses, and many other festivals and conferences. Catherine’s recent residencies include positions at the University of Connecticut, the University of Georgia, and the North Carolina NewMusic Initiative. She was the winner of the International Horn Society Composition Contest in the “Virtuoso” division and the 4MBS Kawai Composition Contest, and is the recipient of several awards, including two grants from the Australia Council for the Arts. Her music can be heard on Cala, Albany, and Equilibrium Records. Catherine’s wind band works have enjoyed performances by the Columbia University Wind Ensemble, SUNY Potsdam Crane Wind Ensemble, Sydney Conservatorium Wind Symphony, University of Georgia Hodgson Wind Ensemble, University of Kentucky Wind Symphony, and many other groups. Her music was played at the Australian School Band and Orchestra Festival in Sydney, and the Midwest Clinic in Chicago. Catherine holds a bachelor’s degree in jazz piano from Kyiv Glière Music College and a five-year postgraduate degree in composition from the Tchaikovsky National Music Academy of Ukraine (Kyiv Conservatory). She is an active performer, often playing her own music. She was the soloist at the premiere and on the CD recording of Out Loud, her piano concerto commissioned by the Cornell University Wind Ensemble, and the pianist on Adam Unsworth’s CD, Snapshots. Together with her collaborators, she has played numerous recitals, including ones at the World Saxophone Congress, two International Horn Symposia, the Eastman School of Music, Northwestern University, and the University of Michigan.

Horn Ensemble Works

Bad NeighboursBad Neighbours20176 horns (2 solo horns and 4 horns)
Fanfare for Eight HornsFanfare for Eight Horns20198 horns
Hard to ArgueHard to Argue20145 horns