Caterina Vivarelli earned her diploma in piano with top marks and honours in 1981, from the Conservatory Giuseppe Verdi, in Turin. She took post-graduates courses in Weimar, Geneva, Salzburg, Paris, San Francisco with teachers as Rudolf Kehrer, Nikita Magaloff, Sergio Perticaroli, Bernard Ringeisssen, Paul Hersh and Mack McCray.

In Italy, she played for the National Television and Radio, with the R.A.I. Orchestra, and in the principal cities (Rome, Venice, Florence, Turin, Positano...).

Abroad, she performed in Paris, Budapest, Salzburg and, as a soloist and in duo, in the U.S.A. (New York, Atlanta, Philadelphia, San Francisco).

Finalist in many national and international contests, in 1982 she won the first prize in the National Piano Competiton La Manta and, in 1987, the highest prize awarded at the Paolo Denza International Competition - Città di Capri.

After the birth of her children, she decreased significantly the concert activity, devoting herself to the teaching.

In 1995 she won the National Contest to become a Ordinary Professor in the Conservatory of Music, where she teaches Principal Piano (Conservatory Giuseppe Verdi, in Turin).

From 2004 she started again to perform regularly, both as soloist and in duo with violin or cello (Varese, in Lago d’Orta, Turin, Merate...).

In piano-duet she played in Minsk (Bielo-Russia), with the contribution of the Italian Embassy.

Caterina Vivarelli as a teacher, has focused her research on neurological interactions in piano practising, developing a personal method to improve and optimize the performance.

In October 2016 she held a Masterclass at the National University of Music in Bucarest.