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Natasha Zaitseff, piano
Moscow Conservatory-schooled Natasha Zaitseff brings outstanding experiences in music education to young and adult students, applying extensive teaching experience, International Baccalaureate training, and advanced and rigorous studies in musical pedagogy.
As a pianist, Natasha appeared in numerous concerts and festivals (including the Québec International festival, performing Franz Liszt’s Hexameron with the renowned Radu Lupu), and performed in piano recitals and chamber music programs throughout the former Soviet Union. Her performances earned her the 1971 Scriabin Prize in Lvov 1971, and First Prize for Interpretation of the music of Béla Bartók in 1974. In the years that followed, she emigrated to the United States. She has taught theory and performance at numerous New York and New Jersey schools from 1977 to the present, and from 2004 to 2012 was Music Director/Head of Music at The Dwight School in New York.
At Dwight, she created a Music Assemblies program that brought renowned musicians to the school, including New York Philharmonic Teaching Artists, Wynton Marsalis and his Jazz Band, musicians from the Gotham Chamber Opera, World Music instrumental groups, Classical Jam, the Bacchanalia Chamber Orchestra, and the Yale Choir. While developing lesson plans and providing full-time classroom instruction in performance, theory, and music appreciation for students grades K-12, Natasha also developed and directed the Dwight Chamber Ensembles, Jazz Band, and Dwight School Chorus, which performed to sell-out audiences at Carnegie Recital Hall. The Dwight Chamber Ensemble and Jazz Band led by Natasha performed in 2010 by invitation in Prague, Czech Republic.
She is currently a member of the faculties of the Lycée Français de New York, the Third Street Music School Settlement, and the Lucy Moses school at the Kaufman Center.