Russian Academy of Music - Los Angeles, California

Gary V. C.

I come from a musical family, lived in France before moving to the US. One thing I can tell you that, it is extremely difficult to find a teacher like Dr. Natalia Kartashova who is so thorough in Piano teaching, especially when it is required special hand techniques to play major classical Piano pieces such as Rachmaninoff, Chopin, Tchaikovsky, Scriabin, Liszt and etc.. Dr. Natalia Kartashova, brings to California the Russian Piano techniques from Moscow conservatory to teach children and make them compete in highly international well known competitions such as Carnegie hall and other. My kids in one year of classes with Dr. Natalia Kartashova, they were able to play difficult challenging classical pieces such as Fantasy Impromptu by Chopin, Liebesträume by Liszt, and Romeo Juliette by Prokofiev. If you would like your kids to excel in Piano I strongly recommend Dr. Natalia Kartashova teaching your kids.

Zhou C.

It’s my honor to provide some updates about Dr. Natalia’s teaching and our progress. After about 7 months learning piano with Dr. Natalia, my daughter received Special Prize for 2020 Colibri International Piano Competition for age group up to 8! This is so excited for us, because 7 months ago she only can play Christmas songs. And after one more year learning and practice, my daughter received the 2nd Place in 2021 Colibri International Piano Competition for age group 9-11! The two year’s pandemic is really a tough time for everyone, but we are so happy that our online piano classes works so well and the teacher and student’s efforts get paid. And I know my daughter is not the only one of Dr. Natalia’s students who get awards in the international competition, most of her students win prizes. You did fantastic job, Dr. Natalia! It’s pretty hard during the pandemic and you made it!

I also have to mention that how thoughtful and insightful that Dr. Natalia teaches young kids, not only on piano but also on their mindset built-up. My daughter is a very very shy and quite girl, she’s very sensitive and reluctant to speak out. Dr. Natalia has to ask her several times for very simple questions, just wait for her answers. I know this is super hard for teacher which requires lots of patience and understanding. Dr. Natalia always tells my daughter she understands her silence is because afraid of making wrong answers. She tells her there are no right or wrong answers, there’s only the real voice from your mind. She encourages her to become more confident, “your existence on this planet means you have your spot, you deserve all the respects and you are good enough.” This is so touching and we are so lucky to have Dr. Natalia! She also always shares the stories of her piano life to the kids, from her childhood to adulthood, with successful experience and bad experience. She’s not only a great pianist, she’s definitely a respectful educator. 👍

I’m pretty sure my girl will learn piano with Dr. Natalia for a pretty long time, maybe also my daughter’s kid in the future 😂. It’s hard to find a real pianist who is also a great educator, we are lucky to have her. I hope you are lucky, too. 🍀 - Jan 10, 2022

Dr. Natalia is AMAZING! To me, she is just like a magician who can do magic on kids piano playing learning. My daughter is seven years old with very basic level in piano playing (playing Happy Birthday song, etc.). She started to learn piano with Dr. Natalia since the end of February of this year. After about two or three classes, we had to switch to online class per the COVID-19. For these about six months online classes, my girl improved a LOT! Now she can play lots of beautiful etudes not only smoothly but you can feel her love and passion to the music through her playing. I have to say that the online class never compromise the teaching quality, because Dr. Natalia makes it perfect. I have attached some online class pictures, you can tell from the pics that how my daughter focused from the little screen :). Because Dr. Natalia is really good at explaining complicated music theory and expression with very interesting and straight forward words and examples, so my daughter really enjoyed her class and improved very fast. Dr. Natalia is also really good at encouraging the kids, especially when they are frustrated. She treats the kids like her friends with fully respect, love and patience. We all love and admire her so much, because she has pretty good personality, she is a talented pianist, and she is a very experienced professional piano teacher. My daughter's piano life just started, but we are pretty sure that with her efforts and dedication, and with the teaching and guidance by Dr. Natalia, it definitely will be a beautiful journey.

Rajanigandha N.

Dr Natalia Kartashova is a concert pianist and the most wonderful Piano instructor both my kids have ever had ! I have known her for the last 4 years and I have only good experiences to share about her and her teaching style ! She is very personable, thoughtful, dedicated and kind, yet taught them with a firm hand. Besides being a Doctor of Musical Arts, she also has a PhD in Psychology and I think this background helps her in a deeper understanding of her students and their learning styles. She has instilled in my kids the discipline, critical thinking, love and passion for learning music. She has pushed the bar for them higher every year. My kids have experienced musical expression through performances with her and I have seen their personality blossom over the years under her guidance due to the good habits of practice and discipline, she has inculcated in them. They were emotionally engaged and intellectually challenged in her classes. She teaches methodically yet organically. Transition to online learning has been a good experience too. Overall our experience with Dr Kartashova has been amazing and I hope I am able to convey here, that any kid who wants to learn music is in the right hands with Dr Kartashova.

Anya G.

Out of all the piano teachers my kids have ever worked with, Dr. Natalia Kartashova is by far the best. Not only is she a phenomenal instructor with a vast musical knowledge, she is also a certified child psychologist. She always seems to find the right words to motivate a student to practice diligently.

Because of Natalia, my children have the real musical education that I always wanted them to have. During the lessons they work not only on the musical pieces but also on a sight reading and music theory. Even though piano was not their only extracurricular, she was still able to train them to compete and place in various competitions including international. Most importantly, Natalia was able to make music a big part of their lives. They understand it and enjoy it.

In recent times, lessons have been over FaceTime. Even with that, the instruction has been superb. As long as she can hear the piano and see your hands, she can teach you to play well.

Liu R.

It has been such a joyful experience working with Natalia! She is the most amazing pianist and piano teacher I have ever met. My son started learning piano with other teachers for about 5 months but only learned Twinkle Twinkle Little Star staff. We turnedto Natalia last July and never thought my son could play such beautiful piano etudes! Within only four month, he had established hand position and being able to read notes faster than ever. Natalia helped to correct theory everyday non stop. My son is on level 6 in sight reading now and he is only 6 years old. We never thought he could play Chopin within such a short period of time.He even got second place in an international piano competition! What an incredible achievement! ! We are so grateful to have such an amazing teacher! Thank you Natalia!!

Mark S. O.

A musical success story:

I'd like to tell you that our son is a musical prodigy. (He's not.) I'd like to tell you how easy he is to manage and how much he looks forward to practicing his piano. (Not. Doesn't.) I'd like to tell you that he looks forward to performing in public. (He was terrified.) Was. Other teachers became frustrated with his frustration.

But I will tell you this: he has passed his MTAC CM Level 7. He recently was awarded two (not ONE, but TWO) Third Prizes at the 2017 Lansum International Music Festival. That was followed by an invitation for him to perform at the Steinway Honors Recital the following weekend.

Suddenly, the piano is interesting and satisfying.

There is only one reason that he has been able to accomplish those things and that is Natasha Kartashova. Natasha is herself an accomplished pianist. She has her PhD in Psychology and is a Doctor in Musical Arts in Piano Performance. (UCLA)

Her Doctoral dissertation " Stage anxiety re-examined. An integrative approach for the twenty first century" helps musicians to recognize and overcome deeply rooted reasons for stage anxiety. She no doubt used everything she learned to help our son succeed.

She has patience. She has a plan. And, in this instance, she got results.

She has provided the opportunity for him to play in recitals, festivals, concerts and competitions.

I am certain that she can take a young prodigy to soaring heights. We'll watch that from the bleachers. We're very grateful for what she has accomplished with our son.

Fasheng Z.

I'm a parent. My son has been studying piano with Ms. Natalia for 5 years. Natalia has strong passion on music and is a very dedicated teacher. She emphasizes the understanding of music and the expression of feeling through music. But she did much more than just a teacher, and as a parent I really appreciate all her care to my son. Natalia is the best teacher we could have. Highly recommended if you or your kids are interested in learning music.

Sue Y.

Dr. Natalia Kartashova (PhD) is an inspiring, patient and creative piano teacher. She teaches my 4-yr old daughter in a custom-designed fashion. This allows my daughter starting her piano endeavor from scratch. Natalia uses her approach to make the class interesting and illuminating. Believe or not, it contains keyboard practice, musical theory and finger excises. After ~3 months training plus practice, my daughter can play multiple songs already. I am impressed by the fact that my daughter is playinthem using the actual music score. She is able to read the notes!! Natalia already becomes a good friend to my daughter.

Having an excellent teacher like Natalia is still not good enough for piano learning, especially for kids. It is a commitment for the teacher, the kid and also for the parents. Of course, Teacher Natalia initiates and leads the process.

If you live in West LA, you should strongly consider Dr. Kartashova’s class. I am sure that she also offers e-class via Skype or FaceTime if distance is a concern.

Overall teaching evaluation for Teacher Natalia is 10 out of 10. She is fabulous.