Natalie, born in Anaheim Hills, CA and raised in Sweetwater, TX, has been studying piano since the age of six. When introduced to softball, she quickly realized that she had a stronger pull to the arts and stuck with her music studies, and soon began competing in piano performance competitions. Homeschooled from the age of five through high school, she then graduated from Hardin-Simmons University with a BM in Piano Performance. Natalie was recipient of three awards while at Hardin-Simmons: the Clara Freshour Nelson Music Scholarship, the Ruth Skiles Memorial Scholarship and the Kelly Nichole Scholarship. She completed her MM in Collaborative Piano at UNCSA in 2023 and is currently working towards her Professional Artist Certificate. Her teachers have included Noreen Carson, Mark Puckett and Allison Gagnon, and a guiding light on her collaborative path has been Abigail Payne, herself an alum (2009) of the UNCSA collaborative piano program.

 

Natalie was active in the Abilene Music Teachers and Texas Music Teachers Associations from 2017 until moving to North Carolina, and she is currently a member of the Greensboro Music Teachers Association and NCMTA. Natalie has collaborated in musical theatre, student recitals, choirs, both concert and jazz band, and The Merry Widow by Franz Lehár. At UNCSA she has been active in chamber music and opera scenes projects, and has worked in the School of Drama, most recently on the premiere of a new musical by Chelsea Daniel.

From Wheeling, West Virginia, Jessica moved to Winston-Salem, NC in January 2020 to obtain her master's degree in Collaborative Piano from UNCSA, which she completed in May 2023. Jessica studied with Dr. Gerald Lee at West Liberty University in West Virginia and earned her undergraduate degree in Piano Performance. After graduating in 2018, Jessica served as a staff accompanist at her alma mater, while teaching piano lessons through local schools. She was a member of the Mendelssohn Choir of Pittsburgh for the 2019 season, during which the choir presented the world premiere of a rock opera, Beethoven’s "Fidelio" and several holiday concerts with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. She has been the recipient of several scholarships, including the Samuel Griffin Seawell and Patsy Moore Seawell Memorial Scholarship from the Winston Salem Foundation, and the Elbin Scholar scholarship from West Liberty University.

 

Jess is now a PAC student at UNCSA, and among many collaborative adventures is playing for the Fletcher Opera Institute’s Outreach program. In addition to her current collaborative activities at UNCSA, Jessica holds the position of music director at Ascension NC. Jessica aspires to hold a staff pianist position at a music school in the Winston-Salem area. She enjoys going on long hikes with her husband, Devon, and her dog, Brooks, as well as painting with watercolors and tending her tiny flower garden.

Yushan Hou is from China and is currently pursuing a Professional Artist Certificate at UNCSA under the guidance of Dr. Allison Gagnon. She started receiving professional training in piano when she was four years old. Beginning in 2010, she built a career in economics, gained a bachelor's degree in 2014. Then in 2016, she started her piano career in China, working as a piano teacher at Bo Music Studio and an accompanist at Our Ballet Studio to support ballet dancers. In 2019, she came to the United States, aiming to become a professional pianist, and pursued a Master of Music in Piano Performance and Pedagogy from Utah State University. During that time, she taught piano lessons for non-major college students and pre-college students, and she also developed her interests in collaborative piano. Now, she continues to further her study as a collaborative pianist at UNCSA in a variety of collaborative projects, and aspires to continue in doctoral studies.

Clara is currently a PAC student at UNCSA, having completed her MM in Collaborative Piano in May 2023 studying under Dr. Allison Gagnon. She received her B.M. in Piano Performance at Liberty University, in Lynchburg, VA, studying with Dr. Taeseong Kim and coached by Dr. Tad Hardin. Clara fell in love with piano at a young age and started performing in studio recitals in high school as a student of Mrs. Alisha Brooks. During her time at Liberty, she grew in her knowledge of the piano world and chose the path of the collaborative pianist. She began working as a freelance pianist for singers and instrumentalists at Liberty following graduation, and in 2019 she was the accompanist for Acting Uncut, a high school musical theatre camp. Clara’s first major collaborative performance was in spring of 2019 in Liberty’s Chamber Music Showcase in works for flute, oboe and piano by Malcom Arnold and Steven Lester.

 

In the summer of 2023 Clara attended the Collaborative Piano Institute in Baton Rouge, LA. Her favorite type of collaboration is work in chamber ensembles with several different instrumentalists, and she has a developing interest in working in the field of dementia care, for which she has gained experience through UNCSA’s ArtistCorps.

 

Clara currently teaches piano at the Kernersville Music Academy and is a member of ArtistCorps at UNCSA. She loves to share her passion for music with her students, and with the community in Winston-Salem. In her spare time, Clara enjoys playing jazz gospel hymns and Disney music, and spending time with her husband James.