Robert Katz
Instructor of Double Bass
Education
- Ph. D., Doctor of Philosophy, University of Texas at Austin, 1998
- M.M., Master of Music, University of Tulsa, 1988
- B.M., Bachelor of Music, Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville, 1985
Biography
A native of Queens, NY, Dr. Robert Katz, has spent his career dedicated to music performance and higher education. Retiring after a 30-year teaching career as professor of music (history, double bass, music appreciation, popular music) and humanities, and as Chair of Undergraduate Research at Tulsa Community College, he moved to Memphis in 2022.
Katz started playing double bass during his freshman year in college at SUNY Albany studying with David Cobb, former principal bass of the Albany Symphony. He returned to NYC to work with Julius Levine at Brooklyn College and then moved to St. Louis to study with Henry Loew at SIU Edwardsville where he received a degree in performance and music theory/composition. Katz also studied with Ralph Jones of the Atlanta Symphony and David Neubert at UT Austin. After winning a position with the Tulsa Philharmonic Katz earned a master’s in music theory and continued his academic work earning a Ph. D. in historical musicology with concentrations in 20th-century music and Medieval and Renaissance music theory, writing his dissertation on Stravinsky’s theater works under the direction of renowned Bartók scholar Dr. Elliott Antokoletz.
Combining performance with academic activities, Katz has worked as a professional double bassist for 40 years as part of such ensembles as the Tulsa Philharmonic Orchestra, Flagstaff Festival of the Arts, Chautauqua Festival, Inspiration Point/Opera in the Ozarks, Alabama Orchestra, Austin Symphony, San Antonio Symphony, Tulsa Symphony, Tulsa Opera Orchestra, Shreveport Symphony, Arkansas Symphony, and the Memphis Symphony Orchestra. In addition to teaching and playing, Katz writes program notes for orchestras and chamber ensembles.