In 1999 Natalya Shkoda was awarded two Diplomas with Distinction- in Piano and Musicology- as well as a Concert Performer's Qualification from the Kharkiv State University of the Arts in Ukraine. Her principal teachers were Dr. Sergei Polusmiak (piano) and Dr. Taras Kravtsov (theory/keyboard harmony).
Two years later she received a Master of Music Degree in Piano Performance under Professor Walter Cosand from the Arizona State University School of Music, being a recipient of the Regent’s Scholarship.
In 2006 Natalya Shkoda attained a Doctor of Music Arts Degree in Piano Performance from the Arizona State University School of Music. During the years of her Doctoral studies, Natalya has given over 20 solo recitals and numerous chamber music and accompanying performances throughout the U.S.A., and has been a recipient of the Katherine Herberger Scholarship, the Music Student Scholarship and the Friends of Music Scholarship. She has taught the four required group piano classes for music majors at ASU and worked as an accompanist for the preparatory labs and musical shows at the ASU’s Lyric Opera Theater.
Natalya’s artistic biography includes numerous piano, harpsichord and organ solo recitals as well as chamber music and accompanying performances in Ukraine, Russia, Belarus, Latvia, Lithuania, the Czech Republic, France and throughout the U.S.A. Natalya was invited to perform as a soloist with the MasterWorks Festival Symphony Orchestra in Houghton, New York, and the Mesa Symphony Orchestra in Mesa, Arizona. She has participated in various Master classes (under Janice Weber, Radoslav Kvapil, Hugh Sung, the Ying String Quartet, Philip Kawin, Pavlina Dokovska, David Burge, Awadagin Pratt, Janina Kudlic, and Kirill Gliadkovsky), Summer Music Schools, Festivals and Competitions. Natalya’s performances were broadcast by the Kharkiv State Radio and Television Company, the Feodosiya State Radio Company and the Uzhgorod State Radio Company in Ukraine, as well as the KBAQ Production Studio in Phoenix, AZ, the KOHM South Plains Classical Radio Station in Lubbock, Texas, the BBC Radio 3 “In-Tune” in London, U.K. and the Radio Sweden “Kaleidoscope” in Stockholm, Sweden.
In 2005 Natalya Shkoda was invited to participate in the International Symposium and Conference "Arnold Schoenberg Reconsidered" held at Arizona State University and recorded by the KBAQ Production Studio in Phoenix; she was also invited as a guest pianist for the performance of the "German Requiem" by Johannes Brahms at the Camelback Bible Church in Paradise Valley, Arizona. In 2006 Natalya Shkoda was chosen to participate with a lecture-recital in the International Festival and Conference "Schumann's Perspectives: A View across the Disciplines" held at the Texas Tech University School of Music in Lubbock, Texas.
Among Natalya’s awards:
1. Laureate of the Ukrainian National Competitions for the Young Composers (1990 & 1993 - Kiev; 1996 - Odessa);
2. Author of 18 publications in the Ukrainian Press and Winner of the Young Journalist Contests under the nominations “Best Review” and “Critic-Ace” (1998 &1999- Kharkiv);
3. Laureate of the Joseph and Ida Klatzkin Competition for the Contemporary American Keyboard Music (In Harpsichord, 2000);
4. Alternate Winner of the ASU’s Concerto Competition (2001); Honorable Mention of the ASU's Concerto Competition (2003);
5. Winner of the MasterWorks Festival Concerto Competitions in Houghton, New York, both in 1997 and 2000;
6. Winner of the Joseph and Ida Klatzkin Competition for the Contemporary American Keyboard Music (In Piano, 2005).
Dr. Natalya Shkoda is very active as a piano teacher and adjudicator. She is a member of the Music Teachers' National Association, the Arizona State Music Teachers' Association, the East Valley Music Teachers' Association and the College Music Society. In addition to serving on the faculty at the Kharkiv State University for the Arts in Ukraine (1995-1999) and the Arizona State University School of Music (2001-2004), Natalya Shkoda continued her teaching experience by joining the faculty at Scottsdale Community College in Arizona in 2005 and becoming responsible for teaching both private piano lessons and group piano classes.
Dr. Shkoda has been frequently invited to serve as a judge for the Arizona State University Honors Recitals, the Arizona Study Program, the Prize Piano Performer Contest and the East Valley Music Teachers' Association Piano Competitions. Many of her private students became the winners of various local and state piano competitions in Arizona and were accepted into the piano performance programs at various universities. Being in a high demand as a piano clinician, Dr. Shkoda presented numerous guest artist recitals and piano master classes at different institutions, including Arizona State University, Texas Tech University, Lubbock Christian University, Mansfield University of Pennsylvania, SUNY-New Paltz and the Northern Arizona University.
Interested in discovering a new keyboard repertoire, Natalya Shkoda gave two Arizonian premieres of the works by American composer Dan Locklair (A "The Breaker's Pound" (A Suite for the Harpsichord) & "The Five Senses" (A Suite for the Piano in Five Movements).
Natalya Shkoda's debut commercial solo CD featuring the first Western recording of "Eleven Etudes in the Form of Old Dances," Opus 19, by Ukrainian composer Viktor Kosenko (1896-1938) was released on the Toccata Classics label in London, U.K., in October 2006, broadcast on the BBC Radio 3 "In Tune" and the Sweden Radio “Kaleidoscope,” and received outstanding reviews, both in the U.S.A. and internationally, including such sources as The Fanfare, The Classical Music Guide, The All-Music Guide, The Classical Source and The International Piano.
Natalya's upcoming performances in the 2007-8 concert season include guest artist recitals at the prestigious Ukrainian Institute of America in New York, NY, and at the Washington Group Cultural Fund Sunday Recital Series in Washington, D.C., as well as solo performances in Alborg, Denmark.
EDUCATION:
Doctor of Musical Arts in Piano Performance, Arizona State University School of Music, Tempe, Arizona, May 2006. Final Project: “A Recording and Interpretation of “Eleven Etudes in the Form of Old Dances,” Opus 19, by Ukrainian composer Viktor Stepanovych Kosenko (1896-1938).” Piano Advisor: Professor Walter Cosand. GPA: 3.97/4.0
Master of Music in Piano Performance, Arizona State University School of Music, Tempe, Arizona, May 2001. Piano Advisor: Professor Walter Cosand. GPA: 4.0/4.0
MEMBERSHIPS:
1. MTNA (Music Teachers National Association)
2. ASMTA (Arizona State Music Teachers’ Association)
3. EVMTA (East Valley Music Teachers’ Association)
4. CMS (College Music Society)
