Acclaimed as “creative, responsive, and highly professional” (Joseph Baum, director), composer Katya Soudek has a diverse musical background which allows her to expertly write in a variety of styles. Writing for both the concert stage and film, TV, and interactive media, her music is known for providing a strong dramatic narrative. Especially when paired with film, her music truly “compliments an
d draws out the emotions needed to make the scenes complete” (Wade Chitwood, director). Katya's music can be heard in several recent independent films including "Miracle of the Murderers" (2013) and "Rocketman and the Aerial Fortress" (2013). She has composed, orchestrated, and conducted pieces for a variety of ensembles such as symphonic orchestra and has worked with members of the Seattle Symphony and Northwest Sinfonietta. Being a keyboard aficionado, she also produces contemporary music in styles such as rock, electronic, and and 8-bit chiptune. Katya has had the privilege of having her music recorded and mixed by Grammy award-nominated engineer Reed Ruddy (Macklemore, Pearl Jam, David Lanz) at prestigious Seattle-area studios including Studio X and London Bridge Studios. Passionate about music education, Katya provides outreach and support to local schools and kids’ programs, whenever possible. Her knowledge of traditional classical genres, film and video game music, and other contemporary styles give her a unique and modern approach not only in composition, but also in performance and in teaching music lessons. Katya was born in the United States shortly after her parents immigrated from Czechoslovakia. She began playing clarinet at age ten and later embarked on her formal musical studies with classical piano at age twelve. Her drive for excellence was soon recognized when she was accepted to the Seattle Conservatory of Music pre-college academic program where she furthered her studies in piano and composition with renowned pianist Mark Salman. Katya went on to earn a Bachelor of Music Composition from the University of Washington and continued to the Pacific Northwest Film Scoring Program where she received a Master of Music in Film Composition from her mentor, two-time Emmy award-winning film composer Hummie Mann. Currently, Katya also performs as pianist/keyboardist, lead songwriter, and producer for her original rock project. She also runs a successful private music lesson studio in the greater Seattle-Tacoma area. In her spare time, Katya is an avid collector of retro video games, is always reading the latest tech and science news, enjoys nature and spending time with her dog, and maintains an active lifestyle by exercising and riding motorcycles.
