Natalia Efremova, a Russian born pianist, was educated in the fusion of Russian and American musical cultures. She holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the University of Texas, Austin as well as advanced degrees in piano performance, accompaniment, piano pedagogy, and chamber ensemble from the Kyrgyz National Conservatory (formerly the Kyrgyz State Conservatory, ex USSR) and SUNY Potsdam. Natalia is a winner of numerous piano competitions and was the recipient of an International Award for Best Performance of Contemporary Music for Central Asia and Kazakhstan.
In addition to hundreds of performances on three continents, she has studied and collaborated with many internationally distinguished professionals including Gregory Allen, Elliott Antokoletz, Jania Aubakirova, Mikhail Burshtin, David Felberg, Nancy Garrett, Frank Iogha, Stanislav Ioudenitch, Dylana Jensen, David Lockington, Michael Mauldin, Danielle Martin, Bulat Minjelkiev, Tatiana Nikolayeva, Anatoly Ryabov,Yevgeniy Sharlat, Alexander Sklutovsky, Falko Steinbach, Mykola Suk, Gulmira Tokombaeva and others.
Natalia was a New Mexico resident for nearly 7 years, performing as a soloist, chamber ensemblist, and accompanist. There, she collaborated with many leading artists and performed with the New Mexico symphony, Albuquerque Philharmonic Orchestra and the Los Alamos Symphony, conducted by David Lockington, Michael Mauldin and Robert Wingert respectively. She has also been an accompanist for the Santa Fe Opera, participating in more than 70 recitals all over New Mexico. An enthusiastic promoter of new music she has debuted original works in both the U.S.A., Europe and Asia.
She is a devoted pedagogue and music educator who has just celebrated 40 years of teaching experience in both the former Soviet Union and the U.S. A former teacher in Los Alamos and Albuquerque, she produced winners of local, district, state and interstate competitions every year. Her students appear in international piano competitions, perform at some of the most prestigious concert halls worldwide, and win scholarships at major US universities.
Active in her field, she regularly attends local and regional MTNA events, and international events such as the World Piano Pedagogy and TCU Van Cliburn Institute Teacher’s conferences. At TCU, she participated in teaching demonstrations with Yoheved Kaplinsky (chair of the piano department at Julliard) and renowned pedagogue, Ingrid Clarefield. She has organized local piano camps and collaborated in events such as Longhorn Music Camp at UT Austin and Piano Summer International Piano Camp in New Paltz, NY (directed by Vladimir Feltsman). As a former member of the Los Alamos Arts Council, she organized concert series and advised on concert artist selections.
Natalia currently resides in Baltimore, MD and serves as a full time faculty member at the Levine School of Music in Washington DC.