Kat Felicis Ioco is a composer, lyricist, vocalist, multi-instrumentalist, and solo symphonic metal artist. She studied composition under Dr. Leonard P. Danek at the University of Northwestern – St. Paul, where she received her Bachelor of Music in Composition. Always looking to broaden her musical palate, she has written (among other things) concert arrangements of video game music, the scores of film festivals’ Official Selections, and a symphonic metal album, and she performs and records vocals in a variety of genres when she’s not playing percussion all over the Twin Cities, jamming on the piano, or learning a new instrument. Catharsis (her debut solo symphonic metal album) released 25 October 2019.

Music has always been part of her life, whether it was listening to Disney and classic rock on family road trips or singing little tunes that often turned out to be of her own invention. Her propensity for composition became apparent when, much to her piano teacher’s annoyed amusement, she would come to her lessons with various parts of the pieces she was learning “fixed” to something not written on the page. Shortly after, she started writing wholly original pieces.

Her musical output increased and gained both complexity and maturity in the following years, culminating in her first world premiere in April 2014 with “Escape”, a percussion-heavy symphonic band piece written specifically for the Irondale High School 2013-2014 Concert Band (directed and conducted by Bill Sucha) and its multitude of percussionists. She was the composer-in-residence for BrassChix 2016 with “Beginning the Quest” (Horn in F quartet) as a featured work and discussed her piece in a special presentation before its performance. She scored “Elf on the Shelf” (2016, dir. Aaron DeVall), which won Best Comedy in the 2016 Five16 Film Festival, and Solid Ground Studios’ “A Heart Under Shadow” (2016, dir. Aaron Potter), which won several awards including Best Short Film at the 2016 Christian Film Festival and was an Official Selection of the 2017 Winnipeg Real to Reel Film Festival. Her second symphonic band piece, “For the End of Time”, was written specifically for the 2016-2017 University of Northwestern – St. Paul Symphonic Band (directed by John S. Herlihy) and world premiered in February 2017 as she conducted.

Recent projects include the score for “Books”, a short film (2018, dir. Noah Ginther), and the 2018 Five16 Film Festival opener (dir. Zachary Strahan). She features on “Prelude” by Mahn, the opening track of the collaborative metal/rock/prog video game tribute album Blood Curse—A Tribute to Castlevania 3: Dracula’s Curse (released 10 December 2022). She was a selected arranger (“J-E-N-O-V-A”) and featured soloist (“Galdera, the Fallen”) with the 2024 MAGFest Community Orchestra and Choir. She has also provided live guest vocals for Mahn (VGM Con 2023) and Premium Vintage (VGM Con 2024) as well as part of the live choir for AfterTime’s Requiem Metallum show (2024).

Her first symphonic metal album, Catharsis, released 25 October 2019 and garnered positive reviews.