Get to know Natacha.
Natacha Turking Hansen was born in Winchester, Hampshire in 1998 and grew up attending the independent Rookwood School where she began focussing on her musical path through the various school bands, choirs and orchestras. She attended her first music competition at the age of 13 playing piano at the Southampton Festival of Music and Drama where she won best in the class and was awarded the Pamela Sherbourne Cup. From then on, she regularly competed across the South of England in various competitions and music festivals including the Basingstoke Festival of Music and the Swindon Festival of Music, competing on both piano and alto saxophone.
During her final year at Secondary School in 2014 Natacha was appointed Head Girl and was offered a place as a saxophonist in the HCYWE (Hampshire County Youth Wind Ensemble) under the baton of Phillip Scott, where she stayed until 2017, which ended with a tour of North-East Germany, performing in prestigious venues such as the St. Thomas Kirche, Leipzig and the Stadtkirche Wittenberg. While studying for A-Levels in Music, German and Maths at Peter Symonds College, Winchester, she also achieved a Distinction in Grade 8 piano. In September 2017 Natacha went on to take a gap year, where she worked as an au pair in Germany which led her to becoming fluent in German, alongside English and Danish. Whilst in Germany she received lessons from the jazz saxophonist Andrey Kazakov.
In September of 2018, Natacha began a 4-year Bachelors course in Classical Music Performance at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance in London, UK. Here she studied under the guidance of saxophonist and doubler Melanie Henry and the concert saxophonist Gerard McChrystal. Since she moved to London, Natacha has taken on a more serious role as an independent music teacher, alongside making new contacts in London’s rich music scene, and making many collaborations with Classical musicians, composers and those in the alternative scene alike.
Natacha often plays alongside the singer Sophie Clarke at various events and concerts in and around London, and has many concerts in the waiting with Sophie too. In February 2022 she joined the UK’s leading Northern Soul band The Signtaures as their saxophonist. With the band Natacha has toured all accross Great Britain, played at various festivals and played at the Northern Soul Weekender in Mallorca, Spain in October 2022.
The future for Natacha’s music is bright and ambitious. She hopes to continue studying the saxophone for a Master’s Degree in Europe and to keep expanding the usage of the saxophone in all various areas in the music scene, be it Classical, Heavy Metal or anything in-between.