Natalia Strelchenko (russian: Наталья Стрельченко, Natalya Strelchenko; 23 December 1976 – 30 August 2015), also known as Natalia Strelle, was a Norwegian concert

pianist A pianist ( , ) is an individual musician who plays the piano. Since most forms of Western music can make use of the piano, pianists have a wide repertoire and a wide variety of styles to choose from, among them traditional classical music, ja ...

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

origin. She died shortly after being found by police officers at her home at

Newton Heath Newton Heath is an area of Manchester, England, north-east of Manchester city centre and with a population of 9,883. Historically part of Lancashire, Newton was formerly a farming area, but adopted the factory system following the Industrial Re ...

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

, England on 30 August 2015. A post mortem indicated that she had died of head and neck injuries.

Biography

Strelchenko played her first concert at the age of 12 with the Leningrad Symphony Orchestra. She was educated at the St. Petersburg State Conservatory and the

Norwegian Academy of Music The Norwegian Academy of Music (Norwegian: ''Norges musikkhøgskole'', NMH) is a university-level music conservatory located in Oslo, Norway, in the neighbourhood of Majorstuen, Frogner. It is the largest music academy in Norway and offers the co ...

(NMH) in

Oslo Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of ...

. She worked from 1995 to 2000 as an accompanist and teacher at Saint Petersburg Conservatory. She held a research fellowship at NMH from 2007 to 2010 and was artist in residence at

Leeds College of Music Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by populatio ...

in 2008. She was awarded her

PhD PHD or PhD may refer to: * Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), an academic qualification Entertainment * '' PhD: Phantasy Degree'', a Korean comic series * ''Piled Higher and Deeper'', a web comic * Ph.D. (band), a 1980s British group ** Ph.D. (Ph.D. albu ...

from NMH for her thesis ''Stile Brillante. Piano technique in historical perspective'' in 2011. Strelchenko was renowned as a concert pianist and her playing was described as virtuosic, having played at prestigious venues such as

Wigmore Hall Wigmore Hall is a concert hall located at 36 Wigmore Street, London. Originally called Bechstein Hall, it specialises in performances of chamber music, early music, vocal music and song recitals. It is widely regarded as one of the world's leadin ...

and

Carnegie Hall Carnegie Hall ( ) is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City. It is at 881 Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh Avenue, occupying the east side of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street (Manhattan), 56th and 57th Street (Manhatta ...

to rave reviews. She was an artistic director of the Menestrelles International Chamber Music Academy as well as assistant Professor in the conservatoire at

Belfort Belfort (; archaic german: Beffert/Beffort) is a city in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in Northeastern France, situated between Lyon and Strasbourg, approximately from the France–Switzerland border. It is the prefecture of the Territo ...

in eastern France.

Death

Police and paramedics were called to Strelchenko's home in Culcheth Lane, Newton Heath, Manchester at around 12:45 of 30 August 2015. Despite attempts to revive her she died shortly later in hospital. A post mortem indicated that she had died from head and neck injuries. Her husband and manager, Norwegian double bass player John Martin, was subsequently charged with her murder and the attempted murder of a teenager who could not be named for legal reasons. Martin stood trial in February and March 2016. He was found guilty of Strelchenko's murder and sentenced to life in prison.

Discography

CDs

*''

Franz Liszt Franz Liszt, in modern usage ''Liszt Ferenc'' . Liszt's Hungarian passport spelled his given name as "Ferencz". An orthographic reform of the Hungarian language in 1922 (which was 36 years after Liszt's death) changed the letter "cz" to simpl ...

- 12 Études d'exécution transcendante'' (2005) *'' Agathe Backer-Grøndahl - Complete Piano Music (Volumes 1–5)'' (2006-2007) *''

Thomas Tellefsen Thomas Dyke Acland Tellefsen (26 November 1823 – 6 October 1874) was a Norwegians, Norwegian pianist, composer, and Piano pedagogy, teacher. As a composer, Tellefsen wrote 44 opuses, including solo piano works, two Piano concerto, piano conc ...

- Complete Piano Music (Volumes 1–2) on historical Broadwood from 1843'' (2009) *''Friedrich Kuhlau - La Clochette, Selected Sonatinas''

DVDs

*''DVD production "History of piano technique" in collaboration with Finchcocks Instrument Museum'' (2010)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Strelchenko, Natalia 1976 births 2015 deaths Saint Petersburg Conservatory alumni Norwegian Academy of Music alumni Russian classical pianists Russian women pianists Norwegian women pianists Russian emigrants to Norway Naturalised citizens of Norway Norwegian expatriates in England People murdered in Manchester Norwegian people murdered abroad Norwegian murder victims 20th-century classical pianists 21st-century classical pianists Russian people murdered abroad Violence against women in England Russian murder victims Women classical pianists 20th-century Norwegian women 20th-century Norwegian people 20th-century women pianists 21st-century women pianists Violence against women in Norway