Natalie Kriegler
Artistic Director & 1st Violinist
Natalie Kriegler received an Artist's Diploma from The Manhattan School of Music for Solo Violin Performance and has appeared as a violin soloist with The Vermont Symphony Orchestra, The Amphion Chamber Orchestra, The Mohawk Trails Chamber Orchestra, and with The Capriccio Ensemble. She has been a featured recitalist at The Empire State Plaza and has been critically acclaimed. Dardis McNamee, a music critic in upstate NY wrote, "As violinist Natalie Kriegler draws her bow, a rich elegant sound fills the hall, well articulated and alive. She is equally at home with music of many styles and with the melodic as well as the technical. Her Sunday afternoon recital was highlighted by an exquisite performance of the "Melodie" from the opera Orpheus and Euridice by Gluck and by an unusually warm and charming rendition of three movements from the Bach "Partita No. 3 in E Major".
From TV spots for the CBS Evening News, to advertisements for Coca Cola, Amtrak, AMC Classics, Volvo, Nickelodean, and many others Natalie has recorded for artists such as Billy Joel (An Innocent Man) and for Kiri Tekanawa (Kiri Sings Gershwin) and is in demand as an experienced, professional commercial recording violinist.
She has produced numerous chamber music concerts in New York City, performed by members of the Capriccio Ensemble including a concert held on St. Patrick's Day at the famous "Actor's Chapel"/St. Malachy's Church on W. 49th St. in the Broadway theater district and has coordinated at upscale private events along with famous, internationally known event coordinators such as Colin Cowie. Natalie performed as the violinist at the wedding ceremony of Jerry Seinfeld and Jessica Sklar along with fellow String Trio members of The Capriccio Ensemble on Christmas night, 1999.
Her commercial credits include performing the original string music for the Nickelodeon TV show Power Pets and later called Wonder Pets. She has performed at recording sessions and on jingles for Coke, Diet Coke, Amtrak, AMC Classics, and was a member of the String Quartet who recorded the original ID spot music for "Nick at Night"/for Nickelodeon.
Natalie has a small class of private violin lesson students whom she teaches each week near her Westchester County residence. The students receive a lesson once a week and they also participate in group classes occasionally where they perform for each other.
Natalie's audition tape was accepted (one of 10 tapes taken in a "tape round" where more than 500 audition tapes had been submitted) by the greatest orchestra in the world The Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and the audition committee.
Her orchestral free lance credits include performances at Broadway shows such as Grand Hotel, Guys and Dolls, Hello Dolly, Damn Yankees, Phantom of the Opera, and Les Miserables. Natalie has also performed in orchestras such as Music Sacra and has served as concertmistress for The NY Gilbert & Sullivan Players and a run of My Fair Lady at The Westbury, NY Music Fair where she performed a violin solo as the concertmistress of the pit orchestra for the run of this show. She has also been the concertmistress for Joel Grey, Bel Canto Opera, and has performed for Tony Bennett, Natalie Cole (including for the televised The Natalie Cole Christmas Special for PBS), Jay Black, Gladys Knight, Connie Francis, Mel Torme, Dionne Warwick, Smokey Robinson, Barry White, and many other well-known artists.
Her most recent musical endeavors include writing arrangements and transcriptions of rock and pop songs for Capriccio Ensemble including a very original rendition of "Thank You" by Led Zeppelin, a "mix" of classical to Beatles via "Ode to Joy" by Beethoven flowing into "All You Need is Love" by the Beatles, a fun scoring of "You Might Think", (song originally written by Rick O'Casek for The Cars) and her very own original piece of music being written now for Solo Violin and Strings!
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