A dedicated chamber musician, Natalie was a member of the award-winning Azure String Quartet. The quartet was a prize-winner at the National MTNA Chamber Music Competition in Chicago, IL, performing the Haydn Sunrise, Schumann A Major, and Shostakovich 9th String Quartets. Azure also was the winner of the Texas Music Teachers’ Association Chamber Music Competition and the MTNA South Central Division Chamber Music Competition, advancing to the national finals. She collaborated in recital with Rice University clarinet professor Richie Hawley, performing the Mozart Clarinet Quintet and Penderecki Clarinet Quartet. As a member of the Listeso String Quartet, Natalie performed Beethoven’s Best Works and Bach to Beatles for the Fever Candlelight Concert Series, chamber music concerts in settings lit by hundreds of candles. She’s featured on Fox26Houston giving insight about these performances. While a fellow at the Sarasota Music Festival, she was chosen to perform Mendelssohn’s String Quartet in E minor on ABC7’s Suncoast View broadcast. Natalie participated in the Strings Music Festival in Steamboat Springs, Colorado, performing concerts throughout the area with her string quartet and collaborating with musicians from the New York Philharmonic, Cleveland Orchestra, Metropolitan Opera, Chicago Symphony, and more.

Natalie appreciates the value of community engagement and its informal nature that allows audiences to intimately connect and respond to the music. During the COVID-19 pandemic, she organized and performed numerous socially-distanced solo and duo recital concerts throughout Houston with horn player and pianist, Spencer Park. Together, they collaborated with host, Margaret Pichon, in Houston’s Heights neighborhood to create Tunes on 10th, an outdoor concert series supporting local professional musicians and providing music and joy to the community in a COVID-safe environment. Read the Tunes on 10th feature in CultureMap Houston here, and follow @Tuneson10th on Instagram!

Natalie’s string quartet, the Maroon Belles, spent a summer in Steamboat Springs, Colorado performing in community outreach performances, including at nursing homes, rehabilitation centers, schools, concert halls, and yoga studios. She has performed in art museums in Aspen, Santa Barbara, and Houston taking part in programs that featured music as an integral part of the art installation. In addition, Natalie has collaborated with Be The Match, a bone marrow and stem cell donation organization, to set up and run several registration drives at Rice University. Through her porch concert initiative, she performed a private recital and raised over $3,000 for Be the Match, directly aiding their program and research. She encourages everyone to sign up for the National Marrow Registry!

Born and raised in Arlington Heights, Illinois, Natalie began her violin studies at age six, and piano lessons a year later. She studied with Gerardo Ribeiro of Northwestern University while being highly involved in the Midwest Young Artists Conservatory and Chamber Music Program. She began her undergraduate degree at the Cleveland Institute of Music and transferred to Rice University to follow her teacher, renowned violin pedagogue Paul Kantor. Natalie received her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Music from Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music, and completed a Minor in Business from the Jones Graduate School of Business. Other prominent mentors include Kathleen Winkler of Rice University and Eric Halen, Associate Concertmaster of Houston Symphony. She received full scholarship during her Master’s degree and earned fellowships to the Music Academy of the West, Aspen Music Festival, Sarasota Music Festival, New York String Orchestra Seminar, and Pacific Music Festival. In masterclass settings she has played for Glenn Dicterow, Pamela Frank, David Chan, Alex Kerr, and David Kim, among others.

In addition to music, Natalie is a professional photographer specializing in musician headshots and portraits. Learn more about her photography here. She also enjoys travel photography, visiting avant-garde art exhibits, and exploring national parks. She performs on a violin by Joseph Curtin, 2005 MacArthur Genius Award grantee. This 2011 violin was modeled after a Guarneri del Gesù, featuring a one-piece back and a voice that continues to mature.