What people are saying
"Few artists can weave a magical story with a keyboard like Chicago-based pianist & composer Lena Natalia. It is wonderful to see her back with a new full-length release….”
– Stationary Travels
“[Straight is the Gate is] a beam of light that acoustically drives away the darkness… an album that can easily last for decades without losing its shine.”
- Gezeitenstrom Musikmagazin
The Best of Echoes 2018: Top 25 Recordings of the Year
(Lonely Satellite - No. 18)
- NPR's Echoes
"Natalia has developed a reputation for producing confidently romantic work. At a time when serious new classical music tends to focus on more avant-garde styles, this is a bold choice. She pulls it off with a neat, uncomplicated compositional style. Her work is tender, but never overwrought. It is emotional without a hint of melodrama...Natalia has delivered another recording she can be enormously proud of."
- The Moderns with Kevin Press
"...this year's top piano album."
- Aural Awakenings
“...I find her compositions deeply affecting and often wistful with an air of reminiscent longing...Lena’s music isn’t noted by particularly overt crescendos or musical peaks throughout. Rather, her generally understated yet undeniably intricate compositions tend to beguilingly shimmer like filtered light beneath a watery surface."
–Journeyscapes Radio
“This blending of the most appealing aspects of her previous work with bright new dimensions makes Lonely Satellite a journey that fans of contemporary classical and piano music likely won’t want to miss."
–Stationary Travels
“…Contemporary instrumental music that is simply addictive to listen to…
I have always had a lot of respect for the work of Lena Natalia and Lonely Satellite…goes a long way to establishing her as one of the best female contemporary instrumental artists around today…Natalia has once again delivered an album to the listeners that is extremely colourful, exciting and accessible to all.”
–One World Music Radio
“Almost Home"...came straight to take place among my finest neo-classical discoveries in 2017. To savor gently, but absolutely...Lena Natalia unfolds atmospheres that are both light and voluptuous, combining the piano with elaborate electronic textures...Sumptuous."
–Totoromoon
“Lonely Satellite is a potpourri of sensitive and emotional pieces.
Fragile and delicate, but also alert and curious. Bottom line: Highly recommended and another jewel in the genre of modern classics.”
“Second Youth' shines...with a jaunty and dynamic approach...whose contours are defined by vivid harmonic weaves and sliding sequences of notes, inclined, rather than to a mere cinematic descriptivism, to the construction of subtly melancholic sound images of ancient elegance."
–Music Won't Save You
“...her latest and arguably most stunning work to date...One among relatively few women working in the classical minimalist genre, Lena takes her already perfected sound to another uncharted level. Applying processed effects to her piano while incorporating other minimal layers and textures throughout, the result is a style of music that might be described as a kind of classical noir. Comprised of twelve stunning compositions spanning forty-eight minutes, [Almost Home] seemingly plays out like a soundtrack to an indie film...”
–Journeyscapes Radio
“After three astonishing, critically acclaimed albums and several years in Paris the composer and pianist Lena Natalia is back. Not only in her hometown Chicago, but also with new enchanting music…on her latest album "Almost Home"… she draw[s] a musical painting that is vividly impressive in its inspiring dimensions and aesthetics.”
–Sonorospace Music
“I love this album. Lena Natalia has some serious talent."
–One World Music Radio
“Natalia's music...scenarios, little plays that speak of loneliness and journeys of the heart. Her compositions are wonderfully vivid and harmonically resonant....Lena Natalia is on the Yellow Brick road as a composer and pianist. Her music captivates you the minute you hear it. Her compositions are complex in structure and scope. Her passion is evident. I was trying find someone to compare her with and I come up with Helen Jane Long after a fashion. I look forward to more from this young Chicagoan with a great deal of talent. Highly recommended."
–RJ Lannan, The Sounding Board
"[Second Youth is]…a collection of twelve enchanting pieces that feature her fluid and expressive playing and run the gamut from melancholic nostalgia to ebullient romanticism while always embracing an elegantly minimalist aesthetic and a cinematic eye. Like a collection of musical short stories, each song title is prompt to the imagination to visualize a scene or relive a memory while Natalia’s eloquent piano lines create a compact and compelling narrative arc to fit...”
–Stationary Travels