KATYA RICHARDSON, a resident of Los Angeles, California, is a girl whose life revolves around music. Though her other successes and passions include and are not limited to winnings in English literature, mathematics, and dancing; her gift, as many have noticed, is a musical mind.

Her history began when she first discovered her musical interests at an early age. Her family, being very musically-associated, often brought the toddler along to meet great legends and listen to various genres of musical performance.

Later on, a small upright-piano was given to Katya as a gift from some friends. Embraced with much encouragement to start taking lessons, she began to do so, at age eight. Momentarily after, she took much pleasure in modifying her simple repertoire, which quickly sparked the creation of her first compositions. Composing descriptive pieces nearly every day, Katya decided that it was something she definitely wanted to pursue. Her gift was not only her desire, but as a child she repeatedly claimed that she heard full on orchestras playing new compositions in her head and that she could never stop it from playing. Her musical world came to life in that moment; she realized that composing was much more amusing than practicing and that she was actually good at it. Composition/notating lessons later joined piano lessons, but Katya did not receive any formal training until thirteen; before that, she learned to develop a knowledge and ear for composing on her own.

Recently celebrating her fourteenth year, she is currently a ninth grader at the Orange County High School of the Arts (OCHSA). Following her successful path of scholarships and acceptances to camps such as California State Summer School for the Arts and Chetham’s School of Music in Great Britain, where she has worked with world renowned pianists and composers, Katya has also placed first in the Southern Youth Music Festival, Music Teachers Association of California Festivals, Search for Talent Competition, and Composers Today. Anxiously waiting to study the art of orchestration to further her growth as a composer and face yet more challenges and opportunities, Katya Richardson takes great pride in acknowledging herself as a young pianist and composer ready to step out into the musical world and share what she has to contribute to it.