Kate Jewel

Art Bio:

My first years were spent on the San Juan Indian Pueblo.  This experience has threaded its way through my life, in my experience of the land, my spirituality, and lifestyle habits such as long distance running in the wilderness. 
 
After living elsewhere, this land called me back decades later to paint the color country.  More recently, as I have spent my life in music, abstract paintings have been my preference—the colors and patterns are like musical compositions. 
 

Music Bio:

I began to study piano when I was 3 years old. Very early on I fell in love with Mozart, Bach, Beethoven and Schubert; for a lifetime they have remained the composers closest to my heart. I could not walk by a piano without pausing to improvise when I was young-- I understood from the age of two that I was wired to compose. However, I was a prodigy in piano, and was born into a culture, an age and a family that did not see women as classical composers.

I received a doctorate in piano performance from Indiana University, where I studied with Menahem Pressler, and placed 4th in the International Bach Competition, performing the Goldberg Variations.

After 12 years in academia, I returned to Santa Fe, New Mexico, where I grew up. II began to to teach privately while also painting. I never forgot my drea to compose and did some, as time and energy permitted.

In November, 2006, my life changed profoundly. While jogging, my dog Niki and I were attacked by 3 dogs, Mica, Kuma and Guinness. They tore off the flesh of Niki’s belly and punctured her neck. To stop the attack, seeing that she was seconds from dying, I bent close to get them off of her. They turned on me, ripping apart my face causing a brain injury and PTSD.

For 1 1/2 years after the attack my brain felt like a thick dark mucousy sponge. It seemed like instant Alzheimer’s. There was extreme, unceasing exhaustion. It required enormous energy to process even the simplest information. My sense of hearing became magnified and distorted, the aural equivalent of circus mirrors. My sense of smell was nearly completely gone. Normal daily routines became extremely difficult, many of them impossible.

Then a miracle: Melodies as vivid and insistent as lightning began to course through me. I have composed now every day now for over 3 years; it is healing my brain injury more than I ever imagined possible.

My heritage and my heart call me to tonality and melody. There are two compositions on this CD; 8 Movements, and Niki: In Memoriam. The music for Niki was composed during the last days of Niki’s life, and after she died.

They capture her playfulness as well as the keen sorrow I felt to lose my closest friend and family.

Contact Kate Jewel

I can be reached here:

P.O. Box 750
Springdale, Utah 84767
435.668.7116
katejewel@gmail.com