Assistant Professor Natalie Lin Douglas presents a solo recital exploring musical dialogues found within unaccompanied works for violin: from the virtuosic and brisk Capriccio, “As Quickly As Possible” by Karim Al-Zand (Professor of Composition, Rice University); to the searching and exploratory Suite Mestiza by Gabriela Lena Frank; the freshly composed A Simple Song by Giancarlo Latta — a duet written specifically for this virtual recital; and finally, the transcendent Chaconne for solo violin by J.S. Bach.
PROGRAM 
Karim Al-Zand: Capriccio, “As quickly as possible” (2002)
Giancarlo Latta: A Simple Song for two violins (2021)
Gabriela Lena Frank: Suite Mestiza (2017)
Johann Sebastian Bach: Chaconne from Partita No. 2 for Solo Violin (1720)
BIOGRAPHY
New Zealand-born violinist, educator, and arts entrepreneur Natalie Lin Douglas is the founder of Kinetic, the Houston-based conductorless ensemble. Committed to showcasing diverse, under represented, and newly composed classical music through flexible chamber and orchestral ensemble formats, Kinetic has been praised for its “visually arresting… superb performance,” as well as its “thoughtful, incisive programming” (Arts+Culture Texas). As its artistic director, Natalie has commissioned and premiered numerous works by composers of our time, including Karim Al-Zand, Daniel Temkin, Giancarlo Latta, Alexandra T. Bryant, and Daniel J. Knaggs.
An avid chamber musician, Natalie has toured throughout New Zealand in concerts presented by Chamber Music New Zealand and in the UK with the Scottish Ensemble. She has appeared as a guest artist with NZTrio, and performed alongside musicians such as Paul Kantor, Jon Kimura Parker, Kyung Sun Lee, Brian Connelly, and Clarice Assad. As a soloist, Natalie was a prizewinner at the 2013 Michael Hill International Violin Competition and the 2012 Klein International Strings Competition, and has performed with orchestras including the New Zealand Symphony, Auckland Philharmonia, Master’s Sinfonia (California), and Erie Philharmonic (Pennsylvania). Notable solo performances include at the Kennedy Center (Washington, D.C.) Severance Hall (Cleveland, Ohio), and the Taipei Ministry of Foreign Affairs. A Britten-Pears Young Artist from 2011-13, Natalie was concertmaster of the 2013 Britten-Pears Orchestra and a member of Aldeburgh Strings, which has recorded for Hyperion Records. She has been featured on Houston Public Media, Radio New Zealand, and Cleveland’s WCLV, as well as in the Houston Chronicle, Arts+Culture Texas, Houstonia Magazine, Houston CityBook, and New Zealand Women’s Weekly.
In Fall 2020, Natalie joined the faculty of Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Music and Theater Arts as an Assistant Professor. In the past, she served as teaching assistant to renowned violin pedagogue Paul Kantor at both the Aspen Music Festival and School and the Cleveland Institute of Music, and taught undergraduate courses in music theory at Rice University. With Kinetic, she has also conducted numerous educational activities to middle school, high school, and undergraduate students, including side-by-side performances, open rehearsal demonstrations, chamber music coachings, and technique classes.
Natalie completed her Doctor of Musical Arts at Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music, under the mentorship of Paul Kantor and Karim Al-Zand, where she was the recipient of the Lodieska Stockbridge Vaughn Fellowship, the Sviatoslav Richter Fund for Music Outreach, and the Mary Hobson Teaching Fellowship. Her areas of focus included the string works of Benjamin Britten and Leonard Bernstein, and her doctoral dissertation is titled, “Eclecticism, Evolution, and Return in Leonard Bernstein’s Serenade for Solo Violin, Strings, Harp, and Percussion.” Natalie received her Bachelor and Master of Music degrees at the Cleveland Institute of Music. Her primary teacher were Paul Kantor and Kyung Sun Lee. Besides music, she enjoys graphic design, yoga, and sewing. She lives in Boston with her husband, Tucker Douglas.
