NATALIE MARCHENKO
Solo saxophone player – PRESS RELEASE

Piano and classical music – thus began Natalie Marchenko her musical career, and soon she was on her way to becoming a pianist. However, she decided to follow her calling instead of pursuing a career. Being stuck is as much not Natalie’s way as is taking the conventional road. Her dream instrument, the saxophone, with its various timbres and thousands of possibilities seemed to be almost waiting for her. In spite of all the objections she faced, Natalie chose the seemingly stonier route, which - to her - was by far the more attractive path to take her through the world of music.

Graduating from the highly demanding conservatories of Minsk and Würzburg she started a successful career as pop, jazz and rock saxophonist belying her former critics. Already then she knew that she had made the right choice. While in her hometown, Natalie produced two CDs (Ordinary Angel, 1998, and Mirror of Time, 2001), where she presented herself as the composer, songwriter, singer and saxophone player, all at the same time. Both were successful on the Eastern European market. However, staying on in Eastern Europe, would have stifled her musical development rather than promoting it, which is why the offer she received from Munich at that point seemed to be just perfect: The unknown had such a strong pull that Natalie did not hesitate for long and settled down in the Bavarian capital.

Natalie’s success is firmly based on two pillars: One - her sound education which gives her the confidence that allows her to concentrate all her energy on her stage presence and the show, and two - her constant urge that drives her to try out something new, to take on new challenges. According to what is appropriate, she can completely withdraw so that her background playing reaches the audience more like a faint fragrance. On other occasions she can just as well captivate and involve her audience with her improvisations to hard-rocking house rhythms from the DJ’s turntable. Today, it would be hard to imagine the Munich club scene without Natalie and her saxophone!

Nowadays, she is booked all over Europe. Also, many bands with all kinds of musical styles rely on Natalie for her professional skill on the saxophone and her charismatic performance, knowing that this always accounts for a great part of the success. Likewise, Natalie benefits from the great number and variety of her engagements, every experience adds to her rich repertoire and opens up new possibilities.

Therefore, she finds it extremely important not to consider any of her projects as final goals. Sure enough, many more musical highlights will appear on Natalie Marchenko’s horizon in the future.