Collection: Neville, Catherine

The music of Catherine Neville (b. 1974, Enumclaw, Washington, USA) creates a complex web of intuitively-related harmonies, layered in densely polyphonic textures. The resulting sound tells emotional stories in an intellectually bracing context. Neville’s journey in music began as a young teen, at Interlochen Arts Academy, an experience that led to studies in composition in New York. She holds masters degrees in composition from the Aaron Copland School of Music in Queens, NY, in music education from Hofstra University, New York, and a Bachelor of Music, focused on performance, from the State University of New York at Stony Brook.

Past honors include a Silver Medal from the Global Music Awards, in the category of chamber music. Commercial recordings of her music are available through Eros Records, Navona Records, and independent artist releases. She was awarded the ‘Audience Choice Award’ by the Spread Spectrum Music Festival in 2020, and the Hugo Weisgall Award for Excellence in Music Theory, from Queens College in 2022.

In the media, Ms. Neville’s music has been spotlighted in The Cello Museum and the Flute Examiner, online publications focused on new music for flute and cello, respectively. Danses for Solo Violin garnered praise from music critic David LaMarche of New York Concert Review, after its inclusion in a recital at Carnegie’s Weill Recital Hall: “Catherine Neville’s ‘Danses’ should really be choreographed, so successfully did she evoke the spirit of dance by mere suggestion. All the elements of Fantin-Latour’s painting were there– melody, articulation, rhythm – but in short bursts that sketched a body in motion.”

A clarinetist, Mrs. Neville performed with several chamber and orchestral ensembles in the New York City area, appearing as a solo recitalist in venues across Long Island. As a student of Lawrence Sobol, she assisted in the creation of Sobol’s Serve the Music: 94 Advanced Finger Exercises for Clarinet, a book of extended technique for clarinet, based on the works of twentieth-century American composers. These experiences lend richness to her own students learning the instrument.

Ms. Neville is an instructor of Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate music theory classes for high school students, currently teaching in the Commack School District, Long Island, New York. During the course of  her career in the classroom, Mrs. Neville has conducted instrumental and vocal student ensembles, arranged music for students at all levels, and created music appreciation curriculum for students at every grade level, K-12. She is a presenter for the New York State Council of Administrators of Music Education (NYSCAME) annual professional development series, facilitating training for teachers of music theory at the high school level.