American music teacher and theorist.

Career Summary

Katz studied harmony and violin at the Packer Collegiate Institute, and later composition with Alfredo Casella and others. From 1928 to 1935 she studied composition with David Mannes and 1931‒35 theory with Hans Weisse at the David Mannes Music School, and also composition with Rosario Scalero in 1928/29 at the Curtis Institute.

She taught first at the Rand school of Social Science (1931‒40), then at The New School for Social Research (1932‒34) and the Young Men's Hebrew Association (1932‒39) in New York City, at Teachers College of Columbia University (1946‒51) and other institutions in the city.

Katz and Schenkerian Theory

Influenced by the lectures of Hans Weisse at Mannes, Katz's teaching at many institutions was imbued with Schenker's ideas. In 1935 and 1936 she wrote articles outlining Schenker's method, including an account of the Ursatz with the use of Schenker's graphing and analytical techniques. Her book Challenge to Musical Tradition, published in 1945, was the first full exposition of Schenker's theory in English and the first major contribution to the dissemination of Schenker's world of ideas throughout English-speaking countries.

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