Catherine Smet plays the piano as of the age of eight and obtains a diploma at the Jacques Dalcroze institute after which she starts studying classical music at the Brussels Royal Conservatory. She completes this study in Antwerp.
She also shows a large intrest in jazz music and follows classes in harmony with Arnould Massart in the jazz section at the Brussels Royal Conservatory. She further takes improvisation classes with Fabrizio Cassol and participates in workshops with Barre Phillips.
Being fond of dance in general, she plays in several groups combining African and Cuban music such as the "Rythmiss" with whom she will be touring during two years. She also collaborates with Felicette Chazerand and writes the music for the show named "Entre pasos bailados". This show brings her to Bolivia in 2003 in the frame of a cultural exchange program.
The art of composing constitutes a important part of her work and, as a consequence, she produced three albums with own compositions: a solo-album "La neuvième heure du jour" (1998), a second album with the "Conversations Solaires" cuartet (2002) with known musicians such as Jean-Jacques Avenel and Michael Moore and, finally, a third album in a duo with the singer Anja Kowalski "DÖ" with both new compositions and covers (2005).
She discovers tango in 1988 during a short study in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and later on she enters the "Tango 02" groups, as well as the "Urbango" trio, the "Barrio Latino" trio and the "Rueda Libre" trio. Besides, she participates in diverse projects and founded the "Purzelbaum Unlimited" duo with the singer Anja Kowalski.