CATcerto for chamber orchestra and video (2009)

In April of 2009, Lithuanian conductor, composer and music educator Mindaugas Piečaitis contacted Philadelphia musicians and artists Betsy Alexander and Burnell Yow! by email regarding creating a children's concert piece using footage of their cat Nora. Nora had taught herself to play piano after watching Betsy teach for about one year. At that time, Nora's YouTube video had already been viewed by millions of people all over the world. Intrigued, Betsy and Burnell worked with Mindaugas to set up an online account to exchange existing and new video footage of Nora's unique talent. After he created a multimedia piece by splicing various sections of Nora's playing into one continuous musical piece, the composer created an orchestral accompaniment.

To the enormous delight of many children in the audience, CATcerto was premiered in June of 2009 by the Klaipėda Chamber Orchestra. Nora The Piano Cat, as guest soloist, was projected onto a large video screen behind the musicians. News of the concert was broadcast around the world, and a video of the performance was uploaded to YouTube. Since its successful debut, the full orchestral version has been published by C. F. Peters corporation and can be performed with the chamber orchestra and video.

You can read more about this unique collaboration between composing conductor and piano playing cat on the official CATcerto website at catcerto.com. Information about Nora The Piano Cat can be found on her website at norathepianocat.com, where you can also purchase a DVD that includes CATcerto's live world premiere as well as broadcast quality versions of her original YouTube videos.