FIA Presents: Natalie Warren

FIA presents Talented Artful People

TAP into creativity

🧑‍🦯 🎭 🎨

This month we’re featuring   Natalie Warren — ]

who is a musician, pianist, educator, visual artist, poet, writer, Music Braille and certified Literary Braille transcriber.

 

Growing up in Hong Kong, for Natalie, music has always been a passion and natural companion. She began her own piano studio while completing her Piano Performance degree at the University of California (UC), Irvine, blending formal training with hands-on teaching and creative work. She will complete her Master of Music in Music Education through the Longy School of Music of Bard College this summer.

 

After her studies at UC Irvine, Natalie spent several years performing as a concert artist, giving solo recitals throughout Southern California and collaborating in chamber ensembles.

 

Her festival participation includes the Taubman Institute in Massachusetts, Songfest, and Aspen Music Festival.

 

Diagnosed as legally blind from Retinitis Pigmentosa since childhood and with Glaucoma in later adult years, Natalie continues to embrace her creative works using adaptive techniques as a musician, teacher, visual artist, and writer.

 

With the support of her husband, Bob, she transitioned her piano studio to an online format in her later career years. She now extends her gift of music as a volunteer instructor, teaching online piano to blind and low vision individuals through the Braille Institute.

 

Through the creative influence of artist and writer Erin Schalk’s creative courses, Natalie discovered a connection to poetry and visual art, blending her works with her musical gifts as well.

 

Natalie’s love of nature has led to poems published in both the quarterly and weekly issues of the Avocet, a nature poetry Journal, as well as MockingOwl Roost, Magnets and Ladders, and the International ProVerse Poetry Prize Mingled Voices 10 Anthology,.

 

Her artwork has been showcased in exhibitions and fundraising events with organizations such as The Glaucoma Foundation, the Glaucoma Research Foundation, the American Printing House for the Blind, Orange County Arts & Disability, Gifted Back, and various galleries.

 

Natalie’s love of community, creativity, and connection continues to expand  her collaborations with nonprofit organizations, supporting education and accessibility efforts around the world.

 

{FIA}: Do you have a Stage name?

{NW}: No, I don’t have a stage name and have been performing simply under my own name.

 

{FIA}: Please tell us about your performances or other musical experiences.

{NW}: In the early years, I was awarded the First Prize in the California division of the National Federation of Music Clubs’ Biennial Piano Competition as well as the Lucile Parrish Ward Scholarship for the Brevard Summer Music Festival.  I have accompanied the Pacific Chorale Children’s Choruses, and the Grace Notes ensemble under conductor Keiko Takeshita, and I performed as the pianist for Dr. Yun Wah Sun’s compositions with the UCI Symphony Orchestra.

 

An avid chamber musician and accompanist, I have participated in master classes of soprano Ruth Golden and the noted coach and accompanist, Martin Katz.  My festival experiences include the Aspen Music Festival and School, Song Fest and the Taubman Institute in Massachusetts.  I have performed throughout Southern California, including the Richard Nixon Sundays at Two Concert Series, the Newport Beach Sunday Musicale Series, the Pasadena Tuesday Musicale Concert Series, and Saddleback Chamber Music Performances. During early college years, I performed as soloist, chamber collaborations, with choir, Baroque and Jazz ensembles, and accompanist for instrumental and voice. I also performed with nonprofit community at events.

Today, I continue to teach the joy of music and piano to students of all ages from my home in Laguna Hills, California, and I extend my teaching to blind and partially sighted individuals and communities. I also continue to enjoy creating works that reflect my evolving musical voice.

 

{FIA}: What instruments do you play? Are you a vocalist

{NW}: Piano has always been my main instrument since childhood. I also played a year of flute in my middle school band and spent couple years playing violin in my high school orchestra. At home, I have a guitar and a ukelele that I would like to learn more of, as well as singing and songwriting.

 

{FIA}: What Inspired  you to become a musician/vocalist? {NW}: Music has always been a passion and a natural companion since childhood. I trained in piano throughout the years and often lived in places where there is a piano. My path unfolded naturally, moving from one experience to another, meeting people, being in different places and events, and doing work that were present at the time. It has become the road I continue to follow in my journey.

Along the way, mentors, teachers, coaches, and friends and family have guided and supported me, each playing an important role in shaping who I am as a musician.

 

{FIA}: What is the Creative process like for you?

{NW}: I use the concepts from music theory, through chords, scales, colors, sounds, and different repertories, as inspiration at times. But my compositions are mostly free-flowing, I let them unfold naturally. Some days feel more effortless than others. I usually record what I am playing, which helps me capture the essence of the moment.

Because I enjoy composing in moment, audio recording has become a great way to hold onto the creativity. Every time is different. Sometimes I stay in one key, but even within that, the sound shifts and changes.

I often enjoy it when I let the music go where it wants to go, that is when it feels most natural. If I try to make it a certain way, it becomes more rigid and less connected to my heart and mind. When I give it freedom, those are often the pieces that become keepers.

Composing this way is also therapeutic. Letting go, expressing freely, and allowing something unexpected and beautiful to emerge. Music becomes a vessel, a way to flow, to express, to simply be, and it has always been an outlet for that.

 

{FIA}: Do you compose music and if so, what kind?

{NW}: I started composing during my college years at UC Irvine, when I wrote my first set of pieces for an advanced music theory class. I worked on it using my electronic keyboard and experimented with different instrument sounds like piano, violin and flute. At that time, I wrote out every single note by hand on staff paper. I was very precise about what I wanted to hear and how I wanted it notated.

After that, I composed a set of original piano pieces, an album called Restoration. Those compositions were also fully notated on staff paper. They are lyrical, flowing, with a touch of melancholy. My cousin helped turn the recorded songs into a CD, sold few copies, and was also made available on digital platforms for a period of time.

Since then, my composing has become more free-flowing.  I have been creating piano instrumental pieces, and it is always changing. These days I use audio to record from the start, instead of writing everything out, though the process is an evolving one, and can change with technology and with different ideas that come along the way.

 

{FIA}: What kind of music do you listen to?

{NW}: I listen to, and am open to, all kinds of music, across many genres, styles, and cultures. My husband Bob once introduced me to Trans-Siberian Orchestra, and I have loved it ever since. We start listening to it as early as right after Thanksgiving each year.

I love movie theme songs. And I am drawn to music that moves the heart and soul, as well as songs that get the whole body and feet moving. I love rhythm and music that lifts and heightens the energy. I also love musical theatre songs. There are truly unlimited possibilities, and even today I am still exploring and discovering new music I love.

 

{FIA}: Who are the musicians, vocalists, or artists you admire the most?

{NW}: There are so many great artists and musicians that I admire that it is not easy to choose just one. Ray Charles is inspirational, I attended a concert through a nonprofit called Muse/ique, and the curated storytelling, combined with the emphasis on Music Braille, really resonated with me. I am also drawn to music that is created and shared wholeheartedly, whether it is played, sung, or dance, or anything that moves the heart and soul. I also love the singing of Andrea Bocelli, his voice carries far and wide with great warmth and expression. There are so many more artists I admire and am inspired by through their music.

 

{FIA}: What do you do for fun?

{NW}: For fun, I love spending time in nature. It is one of the most soothing and enjoyable places for me. I enjoy taking strolls, hiking and camping with my husband Bob. I also love food and exploring different flavors from various cultures. My husband and I also enjoy cooking and experimenting with food and recipes together. Yoga is another favorite, the stretching and the sense of alignment with heart and mind, especially outdoor yoga in the park while living in Laguna Beach. I also enjoy movies of all kinds, as well as visiting beaches, walking on sand and dipping my toes in water.

 

{FIA}: Are you the only musician or vocalist in your family?

{NW}: I am pretty much the pianist in the family, besides my brother-in-law and nephew. When I was young, my older sister and I took piano lessons together for several years. She eventually went on to study engineering, while I continued with music as my focus.

My mom plays some piano for enjoyment. My dad knows a bit of harmonica. My nephew plays cello in his high school orchestra. My uncle, cousin and sister-in-law’s husband play guitar. In a way, there is music woven throughout the family.

 

{FIA}: What do you find the most challenging part of being a musician?

{NW}: The most challenging part of being a musician, especially after my vision changed, has been adapting how I learn and play music. I use adaptive tools to continue with my creative works. For performances and concerts, I have memorized pieces and many pages of repertoire. Now I am discovering other processes and new ways of learning. I have also expanded into jazz, exploring lead sheets, experimenting arranging, and finding so many possibilities in the freedom of all the beautiful sound to create. It is an ongoing journey of adapting, exploring, and reimagining how I make music, and I am loving every moment of it.

 

{FIA}: Do you get stage fright?

{NW}: I love stages. Every venue, every hall, every room provides a different experience, but one feeling that is always the same, is the thrill of performance. The excitement that comes with sharing, expressing, and being with the music and the people all at once.

I do get a little nervous. My hands get a little colder, my heartbeat picks up. That is why I often keep a scarf or gloves with me, and anything to stay warm and help settle my nerves. But once the music begins, once my fingers start to move, even if they are still cold or shaking, something inside tells me I am okay.

One of my strengths as a performer is that I naturally move forward with the music. Even when something does not sound quite right, I tend not to stop. I just continue, keeping the music going, and I am grateful for it every time.

Every performance brings exhilaration, the sound, the applause, the feeling of being touched by music as I am sharing it. There is always a bit of nervousness, but it is the kind that tells me it is going to be great, after all.

 

{FIA}: If you could match a color or smell or tactile object with a type of music or song, what would it be? For example, a romantic song with a red rose.

{NW}: If I could match a color with a type of music, soft Pink would be the color of my free-flowing moments at the piano, across the keys. I have experienced it and it is beautiful. It is almost as if the heart and mind are aligned and open, inviting a world of creativity and imagination to move through me. In those moments, I am in the sweet spot. I am in the flow. I am in the right place.

 

Thank you, Natalie for  what sounds like an uplifting and  creative journey. Your training and accomplishments are impressive.  Your creative gifts are to be admired.

Natalie’s social media links:

http//www.nataliewarren.net (new, in progress)

https://www.facebook.com/nataliewarren.net/  @nataliewarren.net

https://www.instagram.com/nataliepwarren/ @nataliepwarren

Listen to an audio clip of Natalie playing!