If Ilana Katz Katz is not performing in the subway, it's possible she's painting, writing novels or managing properties. Katz started playing when she was a kid. From grammar school to high school, music had always been a constant in her life. She started playing with rock bands in college, while majoring in a completely different field – journalism at UmassAmherst.

 

Even though to Katz, there had always been a place for music. She only started playing in the subway in 2010. “I played with friends, but felt like something was missing,” she said, “I didn’t know what it was or where I was supposed to play.”

 

To Katz, it is more important for her to play, to share music than it is to make money.

 

 “We would all like to be able to make a living in the subway. And it used to be that you could years ago. And now it’s really really hard.” Katz said all her friends who play in the subway do other jobs to make a living.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kevin McNamara, a children’s musician and music instructor helped Katz find the missing piece to her puzzle. “I ran into him somewhere, he had seen me playing, and I had seen him playing.” McNamara and Katz liked each other’s playing and decided to collaborate in the subway without even practicing, which piqued Katz’s passion toward being a subway artist.