Meet Mary Dawood Catlin | Pianist & Author

We had the good fortune of connecting with Mary Dawood Catlin and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Mary Dawood, what are you inspired by?
I’m inspired by beautiful music and art, great movies and good reads, glorious architecture, and history. The space program is inspiring — humanity’s quest to discover our Milky Way. My husband and daughter inspire me every day. I am rediscovering the world and life through the wonder of my child’s eyes.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?

I am composing new music, working on my music releases set for summer 2024, and collaborating with wonderful musicians that I met through the Recording Academy. I am proud to be a voting member of the Recording Academy and part of an exciting community of musicians and artists. I am the co-founder of a new record label called Elysium Classics. My most recent release of original piano music — HOPE — was Elysium Classics’ first production. My work as an author keeps me busy. I have over 30 publications in various academic journals and newspapers including the Miami Herald, the Jerusalem Post, the Albany Times Union, among others. In the spirit of being fearless and just going for it, I am venturing into a long-time childhood dream of mine: acting in movies.

I remember my Mom’s old adages: Petit train va loin (fair and softly goes far), qui ne risque rien n’a rien (nothing ventured, nothing gained), and my favorite — Carpe Diem. I remember my Dad telling me: The sky’s the limit, my daughter!

There have been many challenges along the way and nothing came easily to me professionally speaking. I’ve worked hard every step of the way, for every achievement. The most important lessons I’ve learned is to accept help from others, don’t take anything for granted, be grateful for what you have, be thankful towards those who show you the way, know your limits and at the same time be limitless.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?

Great question! This question immediately makes me think of how I met my husband. When I was living in Paris, France, studying music, I worked part-time as a bartender for a couple months, at an Irish Pub called the James Joyce (it’s now called the Canadian Embassy Pub).

During one afternoon shift, a tall, gorgeous man walks into the pub, sits at the bar and orders a beer. We started talking. Turns out he was from the United States, traveling around the world. One hour turned into many hours of talking about anything and everything. We hit it off immediately! We exchanged emails, and he said he would be back the next day to see me during my shift at the pub.

The very next day he came back, and again the conversation flowed easily. We decided to meet up for lunch at a Montparnasse crêperie later during that same week. A few days later, we met for crêpes, had an amazing lunch, and lunch turned into a tour of the city and then dinner at a delicious Italian restaurant called Bistro Romain on Les Champs Élysées. We visited Montmartre, the Moulin Rouge, the Arc de Triomphe, Notre Dame. We met up again the next day, and the day after, touring all the major monuments of the city and having an incredible time. I was completely smitten!

The time came when we had to say goodbye. We were in the metro train, hugged each other and he left to continue his travels. It was romantic while at the same time being completely platonic as we were both too shy to make a move. We kept in touch for a year, and then lost touch.

I never forgot him.

Then one day, I log into Facebook and what do I see? A message from this amazing man I had met years ago. We reconnected, messaged back and forth, then talked on the phone for hours. It was as though not a day had gone by since we were touring the city together, a Canadian girl and an American in Paris having the time of our lives.

We were married four years later and now we have our daughter!

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I’m dedicating my Shoutout to my late parents, to my husband and my daughter, to all of my teachers, and every person along the way who has shown me support and has encouraged me to follow my dreams.

Website: https://www.boesendorfer.com/en/artists/mary-dawood-catlin1

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mdcpianist/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marydawoodcatlin/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/mdcpianist

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mdcpianist/

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/marydawoodcatlin

Other: SPOTIFY: https://open.spotify.com/intl-fr/album/5cY5lOkADRzdfNizO409pR APPLE / iTUNES: https://music.apple.com/us/album/hope-single/1697050343 AMAZON: https://music.amazon.com/albums/B0CBNL8GTQ?tag=fndcmpgns-20 YOUTUBE: https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_kbhuRcLnOyw71Ggg1wTWg0QOSj3EOGVuM SOUNDCLOUD: https://soundcloud.com/marydawoodcatlin/hope

Image Credits
Natalia Cristobal-Rive; Alejandro Rumolino; Todd Catlin; Mary Dawood Catlin; American Protégé International Competition of Romantic Music.