BASSIST - VIOLINIST - PIANIST
Natalie was raised in a home filled with music, from recordings of West Side Story, to Miles Davis, Arlo Guthrie, and Johannes Brahms. Her lifelong love of music began at age three when she was enrolled in a Kindermusik program. Two years later she began violin study under the tutelage of one of Nadia Boulanger’s former students, James Douglas White. Her violin instruction continued as a member of the Indiana University Young Violinists Program where she studied music theory and participated in youth chamber ensembles under the guidance of Stacia Spencer, Mimi Zweig, and Dr. Brenda Brenner.
As a violinist, Natalie was a member of her middle school and high school orchestras. Her first exposure to playing jazz was on the violin, when in 7th grade, she joined her after-school jazz band. In 8th grade, she began teaching herself electric bass in order to continue participating in jazz band, and this was the step that launched her fully into playing jazz bass. Natalie majored in Jazz Studies (bass) at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music and performed in the top jazz ensembles, conducted by Dr. David N. Baker and Pat Harbison. She also performed with the Latin American Popular Music Ensemble, conducted by Gerardo Dirie, which fostered her love of Latin American music. In 2007 she completed a Masters degree in Jazz Performance at the University of Louisville, where she studied with Tyrone Wheeler, John LaBarbera, and Jerry Tolson. Natalie has performed alongside Dennis DiBlasio, Shelly Berg, Lorraine Feather, Jovino Santos Neto, Joe Piscopo, David ‘Fathead’ Newman, Almir Côrtes, Rob Dixon, Keith McCutchen, and John Hendricks. She has been an invited guest performer in Barbados; the Bahamas; Perm and Moscow, Russia; and Natal, Brazil. While pursuing her doctoral degree at IU, Natalie studied Afro-Latin musical performance under Grammy-nominated Michael Spiro, and performed in IU’s Afro-Cuban folkloric ensemble and Brazilian percussion ensemble. Her last musical venture, Mixteto Sonido, performed at the 2012 Jazz Education Network’s conference in Louisville, KY. This ensemble mixed jazz with Brazilian, Afro-Cuban and Caribbean genres and styles. Batuquê Trio released their debut album, Transparency, in 2015. The album showcases several of her original compositions, as well as those from the other members of of the group. A follow-up album featuring special collaborations is anticipated for release in 2022. |