Natasha Paremski’s interest in playing the piano began at age 2 when she began experimenting with this “magical” box and discovered the sounds she could make. At age 3 1/2, she began taking lessons with Nina Malikova at Moscow’s Andreyev School of Music, and her talents became more apparent, as she could listen to music and then play by ear.
At age eight, after her father had gone to Silicon Valley in the U.S. looking for work as a scientist, Natasha, her mother, and her brother also left Moscow and came to the U.S. to join him.
While in Moscow, her piano lessons were free; in the U.S., they were too expensive for her family’s then meager resources. It was only after she and her mother attended a concert by famed pianist Evgeny Kissin, that Natasha was so overcome by the beauty of his playing that she cried about how much she missed the piano. Her parents relented, and she began taking piano lessons again.
“You better be really serious about this” was what Natasha’s parents said when they agreed to pay for her lessons. With her clearly focused goal of becoming a concert pianist and performing for audiences, she practiced 9 to 10 hours a day.
Her dream came true when she made her professional debut at age nine with the El Camino Youth Symphony in California. Her first big break came at the age of fifteen when she debuted with Los Angeles Philharmonic and recorded two discs with the Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra.
She studied at San Francisco Conservatory of Music before moving to New York to study with Pavlina Dokovska at Mannes College of Music, where she graduated in 2007.
Her playing has been described as “fiery and wildly dynamic.” (London Source).
Natasha has gone on to play all over the U.S. and the world. She has received rave reviews for her performances with many different major orchestras including the Minnesota Orchestra, and the symphonies in San Francisco, Winnipeg, Colorado, Buffalo, Virginia, Dallas, Baltimore, Houston, and more.
Performing and touring with the Royal Philharmonic in Royal Albert Hall, Royal Festival Hall, and Cadogan Hall, she has also toured in Europe with a variety of orchestras and made appearances with the National Taiwan Symphony orchestra in Taipei.
Winning Awards and Making Recordings
Natasha’s enormous talents have led her to winning several awards. “I am especially proud of my first big award at age 18, the Gilmore Young Artists Prize. I used the winnings from that award to buy a piano,” she said.
She went on to win the Prix Montblanc, the Orpheum Stiftung Prize in Switzerland and in 2010 was awarded Classical Recording Foundation’s Young Artist of the Year. Her first recital album was released in 2011, topping the Billboard Classical Charts, and was re-released on the Steinway & Sons label in September 2016. Natasha has gone on to make several successful recordings, including as a soloist and with renowned cellist, Zuill Bailey.
Beyond the Concert Hall
Taking on many other projects, Natasha was the featured pianist in choreographer Benjamin Millepied’s Danses Concertantes at New York’s Joyce Theater. She was in a major two-part film for BBC Television on the life and work of Tchaikovsky, shot on location in St. Petersburg, performing excerpts from Tchaikovsky’s First Piano Concerto and other works.
In addition, Natasha worked on the filming of “Twin Spirits,” a project starring Sting and Trudie Styler exploring the music and writing of Robert and Clara Schumann. She has also worked on that series live several times with the co-creators in New York and the U.K., directed by John Caird, the original director/adaptor of the musical “Les Misérables.”
New York Piano Society Leadership
Natasha has been a long-time New York resident where she is now the Artistic Director for the New York Piano Society. (NYPS) The organization actively works “to discover, develop, and present talented pianists whose professions lie outside the field of music.”
The Society offers workshop and master classes. Society members also get opportunities to play with professional guest artists on major New York City stages. They perform in the community with free concerts for children and seniors. Among their upcoming events is a concert at Carnegie Hall in NYC.
“I really enjoy working with passionate musicians who continue to play piano through their lives,” Natasha stated. “Though their regular jobs may be in a variety of fields, including medicine, real estate, and finance, it is rewarding to work with them and to see them perform. After a stressful day at work, they are able to still find time to focus on the music.”
Music is Her Life
Whether she is practicing, performing, or teaching, Natasha’s passion is music. “I don’t really have one single composer who is my favorite. That is like trying to choose a favorite child,” she said.
“I get to know different works and to appreciate the composers even more when I play a work for the first time or go back to a piece I have played and performed many times.” Natasha added. “I see the beauty of pieces even more as an interpreter.”
In addition to her career as a piano soloist, she also enjoys playing chamber music with fellow musicians. “I love to make music with a few friends on stage, sharing the music together.”
“Music is an extension of me, and I am enriched by it every time I play,” she said. “My practice schedule can get pretty intense when I am preparing for concerts. I might play 6 to 8 hours or even up to 13 hours in a day.”
“With her consistently striking and dynamic performances, pianist Natasha Paremski reveals astounding virtuosity and voracious interpretive abilities. She continues to generate excitement from all corners as she wins over audience release)
Performing with the DSSO
Natasha is looking forward to her performance with the Duluth Superior
Symphony Orchestra (DSSO) on March 1.
“I will be playing Chopin’s Concerto #1. I am excited to go back to this piece that I haven’t played for several years,” she noted. “It is incredible that Chopin wrote this and his piano concerto #2 while he was still in his teens, demonstrating his sheer genius at such a young age.”
After performing with the DSSO, Paremski will next be playing at Cadogan Hall in London with the Royal Symphonic Orchestra
Information on DSSO Masterworks Concert #5 “La Mer” The Sea
Chopin Piano Concerto No.1
Leshnoff Symphony No.4
Debussy La Mer
March 1 at 7 pm
At DECC Symphony Hall
350 Harbor Dr
Duluth
Tickets available on dsso.com
Next Up for the DSSO
“La Valse” Masterworks 6
April 5, 7:00 pm
The Masterworks season comes to a close featuring their musicians, concertmaster Erin Aldridge, and the DSSO Chorus. The concert starts with a celebration of Maurice Ravel’s 150th birthday, featuring his virtuosic La Valse that shows the orchestra in all its splendor. Aldridge will then take the stage with Ravel’s Tzigane for violin and orchestra, as well as the beautiful Poème by French composer Ernest Chausson. After two riveting Latin American Dances by American composer Gabriella Lena Frank, they will feature their DSSO Chorus in Johannes Brahms’ serene Schicksalslied and the rousing Time and Again Barelas choral suite by American/Uruguayan composer Miguel del Aguila.
