As Cat grew up in Los Angeles his New Yorkese parents realized they had a unique child on their hands. He showed an early preoccupation in maps, calendars, and statistics. Having heard that math interest correlates well with music, they started him with piano lessons which he took to right away.

Cat's first teacher, Mrs. Brooks, saw talent there and had him composing little keyboard pieces at the age of seven. By the time he reached high school Cat was an accomplished pianist and was always writing music.

His folks moved to the Granada Hills area in the San Fernando Valley where his high school music teacher, Mrs. Hampton, taught him harmony and musicianship. She often spent extra time giving him individual lessons and assignments. She teamed him up with several gifted English students to write a funny campy musical comedy satirizing high school life and gangs and cliques they called On The Verge, a true predecessor to Grease. This was enthusiastically received by the whole student body.

Mrs. Hampton worked hard to convince Cat's dad who wanted him to be a nuclear physicist to let Cat go into music. The father was convinced music would only lead him into poverty (in hindsight, for a while his dad wasn't too far off).

Cat's Childhood

Cat's Education

Cat's Gigs

Cat Cohen & The Canary Sisters

Pop Song Study and Success

Cat as a Journalist

Cat goes back to the Theater

Cat Cohen Today