Pianist's goal: to communicate

A FEW YEARS ago, pianist Natasha Paremski was appearing on concert programs as a child prodigy. Tonight, she returns to the Bay Area as the featured soloist with the San Francisco Symphony. Joining the orchestra in an all-Tchaikovsky program, Natasha will perform the composer's Piano Concerto No. 1 in B-flat minor.

It's an apt choice of works with which to make her S.F. Symphony debut -- Natasha, 17, was born in Moscow, and counts Tchaikovsky among the composers closest to her heart.

"I just love this concerto," the pianist explained in a recent interview. "To me, the first movement is like Russian royalty. It's a grand concerto, but also very lyrical. All the melodies are very Russian. And I really relate to the third movement, which is a Russian dance."

Natasha, who lives in Fremont with her parents and brother, began playing piano at age 2. She started formal studies at age 4. "I really liked it from the beginning," she says. "I never thought for one moment that I wanted to do anything else."

She was 8 when the family moved from Moscow to the United States. She has performed in the Bay Area frequently since then, including several appearances with the Pro Art Symphony's Pianomania! series in Walnut Creek.

In recent years, Natasha has worked hard to join the ranks of professional concert pianists. She has just completed her freshman year at Mannes College in New York, where her teacher is Pavlina Dokovska. Earlier this year, Natasha made her Carnegie Hall debut, playing Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 2 with the New York Youth Symphony.

Natasha also likes contemporary music. She got a recent vote of confidence from composer John Corigliano: When the Pulitizer Prize-winner heard she was adding his "Etude Fantasy" to her repertoire, he hosted her in a performance for a select group of friends at his New York apartment.

"I was told he likes to meet with people to coach them on his pieces," says Natasha. "I played it for him, and he said he really liked the way I played it. That was so nice. I love his music -- it has so much meaning and form, tonality and harmony. It's not as abstract as a lot of 20th century music."

She'll give her first public performance of the "Etude Fantasy" in a concert at New York's Merkin Hall in November. The upcoming season also includes debuts in London and Switzerland.

Natasha loves performing -- her heroes are Rachmaninoff, Sviatoslav Richter and contemporary pianist Helene Grimaud -- and says the most important thing is communicating that love to the audience.

"My goal is to become a great musician," she says. "I want to play for people and bring joy to them. When people come to my concerts, I want to communicate to them on a personal level. And I hope they take pleasure in that."

Tonight's concert, presented as part of the S.F. Symphony's "Summer in the City" series, also includes Tchaikovsky's "1812 Overture," the "Waltz of the Flowers" from the "Nutcracker," and the suite from "Sleeping Beauty." Edwin Outwater conducts. The music begins at 8 p.m. at Davies Hall. Tickets are $15-$60; $7.50-$30 for ages 17 and under. Call 415-864-6000.

MENLO MUSIC BEGINS: Music@Menlo, the Peninsula chamber festival founded by cellist David Finckel and pianist Wu Han, opens its second season this weekend. Concerts include music from Italy, Vienna, France, Eastern Europe and Russia, beginning with an all-Italian program of works by Vivaldi, Corelli, Albinoni and Verdi (tonight and Saturday at St. Mark's Episcopal Church, Palo Alto). Finckel and Wu Han, the husband-and-wife team who were recently appointed co-artistic directors of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, will perform in an evening of music by Schubert, featuring lieder sung by baritone Nathaniel Webster (Tuesday and Wednesday). The festival also offers a series of Sunday "Carte Blanche" concerts, as well as lectures, workshops, prelude performances and youth concerts. Music@Menlo continues through Aug. 15, with performances in Palo Alto, Atherton and Menlo Park. For details, contact www.musicatmenlo.org or 650-725-2787.