about
Natalia Badziak is a graduate of the Oberlin College and Conservatory of Music, where she completed Bachelor’s degrees in viola performance and comparative literature, and the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, where she completed her Master’s degree. She holds a postgraduate diploma in contemporary music practices from the Kunstuniversität Graz in Austria. Natalia divides her time between Chicago and the San Francisco Bay Area.
Natalia is a member of the California Symphony and a substitute with the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra and the Sarasota Orchestra. She has performed in many music festivals including the International Ensemble Modern Academy and Spoleto Festival USA, as well as in ensembles such as SF Sound, the San Francisco Contemporary Players, and in a piano quintet through Lincoln Center Stage. Natalia has played in masterclasses for Kim Kashkashian and members of the Kronos Quartet, and twice performed in the Kronos Quartet’s “Fifty for the Future” initiative.
An avid new music performer, Natalia has worked with members of the Ensemble Modern, has attended the Darmstadt Summer Music Courses, and has commissioned several new works for the viola that involve experimental techniques. During her postgraduate studies at the Kunstuniversität Graz, she frequently performed alongside Klangforum Wien.
Natalia has taught both violin and viola for seven years in music schools, privately, and through conservatory preparatory departments to students of all ages. As a teacher, Natalia is dedicated to helping each student develop an individual voice at their own pace; she focuses on developing an organic, resonant and free sound through the release of physical and mental tension. Natalia finds it especially rewarding to watch her students grow over time and believes that music lessons are essentially collaborations in storytelling and communication.
Photo credit: Alice H Photography