Piano
Education
Natalia Efremova received her B.M. and M.M. in Piano Performance, Chamber Ensemble, Accompaniment and Piano Pedagogy from Kyrgyz State Conservatory (Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, Former USSR) and her D.M.A. in Piano Performance and Pedagogy from the Ural Mussorgsky State Conservatory (Yekaterinburg).
Performance and Teaching Experience
Natalia has given hundreds of solo, chamber and concerto performances in Asia, Europe and the United States, including premieres of works by American composers in Paris, France and Washington DC.
Natalia has served as accompanist in numerous capacities including for the College of Southern Nevada (Las Vegas, NV), Western U.S. Horn Symposium (Las Vegas, NV), Santa Fe Opera (Santa Fe and Albuquerque, NM), Kyrgyz State Conservatory and was previously the Community Concert Organizer in Albuquerque and Los Alamos, NM.
Prior to Levine, Natalia was on Piano faculty at Kyrgyz State Music School for Children and Kyrgyz State Music College, Teaching Assistant at SUNY Potsdam and maintained a private piano studio while in Albuquerque and Los Alamos, NM.
At Levine
Natalia has been on the Levine Piano Faculty since the fall of 2009 where she teaches private instruction and the Adult Piano Performance Class.
“I am very grateful to be at Levine where I am surrounded by so many wonderful colleagues, talented musicians, educators, diverse personalities and artists!”
Teaching Philosophy and Approach
“This year marks 35 years since the moment I met my very first student. I will never forget that day. It was the beginning of something very important for the both of us. For the 5-year-old girl, it was the first exposure to the magic of music. For me it was the start of a long and meaningful path, one filled with passion, responsibility and devotion. Since then and throughout my long, international teaching career, I’ve had the pleasure of working with students of wide-ranging musical backgrounds, skill levels, ages and cultural traditions. Some became professional musicians, pursuing performance careers and raising their own students. Others chose different occupations. Among my former students are lawyers, doctors, engineers, servicemen… But regardless of what they choose to do, I believe my students have one thing in common: Music has become a large part of their lives. Dmitri Shostakovich once said, ‘You must love and study the great art of music. It will open up an entire world of noble experiences, passions and thoughts. It will bring you closer to spiritual enrichment, purity and perfection. You will begin to perceive life under a new color, a new light.’ It is this attitude toward musical art that I find to be an essential part of teaching music.”