Kait O'Hanlon, pianist

Kait O’Hanlon immediately fell in love with piano the second she touched the keys of her great uncle's baby grand on a family trip. As a young pianist, she started taking lessons with a neighborhood piano teacher and attended Lehigh Valley Charter High School for the arts. She went on to receive her B.M. in piano performance from Susquehanna University in 2022 studying with Dr. Naomi Niskala and her M.M. in piano performance from Butler University in 2024 studying with Dr. Kate Boyd. During her years as a collegiate student, she fostered her love for performing and teaching. Under the direction of Dr. Jamie Namminga at Susquehanna University, she became an experienced collaborative pianist with opportunities to accompany her fellow classmates in degree recitals, studio recitals and more. She continued her collaborative piano journey at Butler University under Dr. Amanda Hopson as a graduate assistant in collaborative piano. She also accompanied a church choir in the Indianapolis area.

As a performer, Kait O’Hanlon is an imaginative pianist. She brings out the character and emotions of a piece with great sensitivity. She found every opportunity to perform for her colleagues and community at Susquehanna and Butler and attended the Piano Plus Summer Festival in Xanthi, Greece where she performed alongside other university students. As a collaborative pianist, she found her passion with chamber music and has performed chamber pieces by Mozart, Schumann, Mendelssohn, Brahms, and more. She auditioned and was accepted to “A Window to Japan,” an intensive chamber music exchange program with students and faculty at Niigata University, but the program was unfortunately canceled due to covid. Notably, she accompanied an undergraduate student on Shostakovich’s Piano Concerto No. 2 in F Major, Op. 102 in two concerto competitions where he received honorary mention for both.

Currently, Kait O’Hanlon has settled in Bloomington, IN after graduating from Butler University. Following her passion of sharing music with others, she is continuing her career as a piano teacher and collaborative pianist. She performs throughout Indiana for recitals, weddings, and events, and maintains a studio of 30 students at Indiana Conservatory of Music.