Moon Language is a collection of extended piano works; a search for my own musical vernacular, crafted from field recordings and samples that I’ve woven into piano songs both composed and improvised.

The album draws together many different influences including classical, experimental music, electronic, and jazz, all gravitating around the sound of the piano. I felt drawn back to my musical roots as a young child daydreaming up songs on the old upright in our living room, a hide-away from the chaos of a blissful but busy childhood, growing up in a family of eleven.

Each piece carefully folds into the next, a mirror of the experience I hope to evoke with this album, the urge for connection with the sound, with ourselves, with each other. The title comes from Hafiz, “with that sweet moon language”, about a great pull in us to connect. “And why not become the one with a full moon in each eye…saying what every other eye in this world is dying to hear?” Also appearing on the album is a collaboration with violinist Juliette Beauchamp on “Satienne”, a re-imagining of Satie’s Gnossienne No.1.

I finished recording this music while pregnant for my daughter, and the cover picture was taken just days before she was born. I dedicate this album to her and the deepest connection to another being I have ever known.

Michaela Rea Catranis is an award-winning composer, pianist, and interdisciplinary artist. “I believe in the synergy between art and other forms of communication or expression, looking for ways to channel my sound world through immersive, multisensory environments. My aim is to create a space where the artist and spectator alike lose themselves in what is happening moment by moment, breath by breath.” With a strong background in classical piano,  Michaela Catranis’ eclectic tastes have led her to explore experimental music, electronic, jazz and beyond, crafting a highly versatile sonic language.

Her intermedia performances have received international acclaim, sound worlds that spin out in a colorful exchange of disciplines, criss-crossing music, art, technology and dance. This process of collective art-making lies at the heart of Michaela’s work, which she feels echoes our shared humanity, a thirst for togetherness born from her experiences growing up in a large family. She derives inspiration from her love of classical music, playing with the family band, SPACE CATS, as well as non-classical sonorities that she’s collected from her travels and walks in the forest.

Her work for solo cello “Jeita” earned her the TONALi composition prize in 2018. The following year, she was awarded the Contemporary Arts Alliance Berlin Scholarship, commissioned by Ensemble Modern as part of the Composer’s Seminar/Cresc. Biennale for Contemporary Music and selected as composer laureate of the Académie Voix Nouvelles – Royaumont. Her works have been performed internationally in concert halls such as the Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, the Berliner Philharmonie, Wigmore Hall and the KKL Lucerne. She has written for leading ensembles such as the Mivos Quartet, Zafraan Ensemble, RIOT, Ensemble Modern, KNM, among others, and works closely with soprano, Johanna Vargas, and Berlin-based Duo Amabile.

Michaela holds degrees in piano performance from the Peabody Conservatory and composition from the Hanns Eisler School of Music. She lives in Berlin, Germany, where she founded the interdisciplinary ensemble menajiri.

Credits
Michaela Catranis – piano, synthesizer, voice, electronic, production Juliette Beauchamp – violin
Rodrigo Malvido – percussion
Chris Coby – mastering, production
Moon Language © 2025 Michaela Catranis
All rights reserved 2025 ℗ Elektramusic Berlin – Paul Clouvel