Katia Tchemberdji is a Soviet and German pianist, composer, film composer, and music educator. Born in Moscow on May 6, 1960, she has lived in Germany since 1990 and resides in Berlin. Her mother was writer and translator Valentina Chemberdji; her father is journalist and translator Vladimir Pozner. She is the granddaughter of composers Zara Levina and Nikolai Chemberdji.
Tchemberdji graduated from the Moscow Conservatory in 1983, studying composition with Nikolai Korndorf and Yuri Kholopov. From 1984 to 1990, she taught at the Gnessin Academy. She performs as a pianist, with repertoire including Haydn, Schumann, Liszt, Glinka, Brahms, Richard Strauss, Hindemith, Bartók, Martinů, and Prokofiev. Her music has been performed by Oleg Kagan, Natalia Gutman, Vasily Lobanov, Eduard Brunner, Patrick Gallois, Mieko Kanesugi, and Sebastian Klinger.
Her works include Haiku for piano (1983), a Piano Trio (1986), the children's opera The Little Elephant (1990), and the Heidelberg Trio for clarinet, violin, and piano (1991). Later works include Day and Night, in Honor of M. C. Escher (1995), the children's opera Max and Moritz (1998), the Second String Quartet after Rilke (2000), Opposition for ensemble (2003), and the children's opera Save Pluto! (2007).
Tchemberdji has also written film and television music. Her film scores include music for Alexander Zeldovich's The Warrior and Sergei Yursky's Chernov (1990). She wrote music for television programs presented by her father, including One-Story America (2008), Tour de France (2010), Their Italy (2011), German Puzzle (2013), England in General and in Particular (2014), Jewish Happiness (2015), In Search of Don Quixote (2017), The Most, Most, Most (2018), and Japan: The Other Side of the Kimono (2020). She also appeared as one of the subjects of German Puzzle.