The Khasma Piano Duo was formed in 2012 by Ashlee Mack and Katherine Palumbo. They have been playing together since meeting in 2000 as undergraduates at Bucknell University. Because of their shared enthusiasm for contemporary music, the duo has dedicated themselves to the performance and recording of works from the 20th and 21st centuries. They have given world premiere performances of piano duets by notable living composers including Matthew Heap, Robert Morris, Lawrence Moss, James Romig, and David Vayo. Their concert tours have taken them to Illinois, Indiana, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Wisconsin, including performances at the Eastman School of Music, the Marshall University Ninth Annual Festival of New Music, the Illinois College Fine Arts Series, and the Society of Composers, Inc. National Conference at Ball State University. Khasma is planning an upcoming concert tour of Olivier Messiaen’s Visions de l’Amen, and their recordings of commissioned works by Matthew Heap and Lawrence Moss were released in 2019 on Navona Records and Innova. Their albums Switchback and Time Seems To Pass are available at Amazon, iTunes, and Bandcamp.

Origin of the Khasma (pronouced \ˈkaz-mə\) name: Chasm Lake is a hike in Rocky Mountain National Park. Both pianists consider this trail to be one of their favorites in Colorado. Since they have each spent a significant amount of time in the Rockies, they decided to choose a name that encompasses their enthusiasm for nature. The Greek origin of the word ‘chasm’ is ‘khasma,’ which seemed like the appropriate choice, as it happens to include letters from their first names.