“…physically expressive, ferocious, and particularly thrilling…”

— La Scena Musicale

Praised for her “passion in every note” and “rich dynamic expression” (Artburst Miami), Katherine Fortunato is a percussionist, educator, and arts administrator based in Brooklyn, New York. Ms. Fortunato has made a name for herself as a lively and energetic performer unafraid of genre-bending and unorthodox collaborations. 

Katherine works as a freelancer in the tri-state area, and since moving to the city has performed and collaborated with Sandbox Percussion, Linda May Han Oh, Noah K, Mark DeChiazza, Excelsis Percussion, and Noise Catalogue. She performs regularly with Musica Viva NY, the New England Symphonic Ensemble, and Music in the Somerset Hills. In the spring of 2023, Ms. Fortunato made her debut in the New York opera scene as the percussionist on the world premiere of Noah K’s opera, Salvation, directed by Mark DeChiazza. This spring, she joined Heartbeat Opera as the percussionist on the world premiere of Daniel Schlosberg’s THE EXTINCTIONIST, which featured over 35 percussion instruments. 

In August of 2023, Katherine performed the U.S. premiere of Linda May Han Oh’s Ephemeral Echoes at The Stone with Fabian Almazán, Eric Doob, Terry Sweeney, and Victor Caccese. She kicked off the fall of 2023 with a performance of Kevin Put’s Marimba Concerto with the Mannes orchestra at The New School as the winner of the George and Elizabeth Gregory Concerto Competition. Shortly afterwards, she began working with Excelsis Percussion Quartet, one of America’s premiere all-female percussion groups, performing across the east coast and presenting workshops and teaching students in preschools to universities.

Ms. Fortunato has worked as an administrative assistant to Sandbox Percussion since 2018 and to Christopher Cerrone since 2022. She has also worked as an assistant to Becca Stevens and Domenic Salerni (Attacca Quartet), and she has worked as the Percussion Coordinator for the Mannes School of Music Percussion Department since 2023.

A passionate teacher, Katherine educates students privately in Brooklyn, NY, and has mentored young musicians in the New Jersey Youth Symphony, the Greater Miami Youth Symphony, and the South Florida Youth Symphony. In the summer, she enjoys working as a pit percussion and drum line instructor for marching bands in northern New Jersey. She has worked as a Percussion Instructor for the West Morris Regional High School District Marching Bands since 2018.  

Katherine received her Bachelor of Music degree from the Frost School of Music at the University of Miami where she studied under the tutelage of Svetoslav Stoyanov, Matthew Strauss, and Joseph Petrasek. This spring, she received her Master’s degree from the Mannes School of Music at The New School where she studied with Ian Rosenbaum, Jonny Allen, Victor Caccese, Terry Sweeney, and Glen Velez.