Cat Toren, an award-winning pianist, improviser, and composer, lives in Brooklyn, New York. Cat Toren is described as “vibrant and earthy, spiritual” by UK Vibe. She “uses bold atmospheric abstractions and fluid melodies that mix deep human warmth and creative fire” (Coastal Jazz u0026 Blues). Cat Toren has a Masters degree in music composition from New York State University at Purchase College, and a Bachelor’s degree in Jazz Studies at Capilano College, North Vancouver, BC. She studied piano with highly regarded pianists like Andy LaVerne, Sophia Rosoff, and composition with Dr. Lisa Miller and Pulitzer Prize nominee Laura Kaminsky. Cat is also passionate about sound therapy and holds a Sound Healing Training Certificate at Sage Academy in Woodstock. Cat Toren’s HUMAN IND was her fourth album. It was released on January 21, 2017. It was a huge success, selling copies in seven countries. Amazing music for 2017″ UK Vibe. This music was influenced by free-form, socially conscious jazz from the late 1960s and today’s civil right movement. Cat was invited to speak at the University of British Columbia Colloquium 2017. The topic for 2017 was Lines of Flight: Improvisation and Hope and Refuge. Cat Toren presented and lectured on Cat Toren’s HUMAN KIND, Music for Empathic Activism. This lecture was published in Nothing To Say, an online arts journal. Cat Toren’s HUMAN KIND will be releasing their second album, “Scintillating beauty” on Panoramic Recordings. (New Focus Recordings), September 11, 2020. A JUNO Award for Best Instrumental album of the year 2013, a Western Canadian Music Award 2016 nomination, and the Galaxy Rising Star Award 2010, all were career accolades.
