Amy Natzke is a graduate of the Oberlin Conservatory and the University of Michigan.
Her principal teachers have been Stephen Clapp and Paul Kantor, with additional studies
with Kathleen Winkler at the Meadowmount School for Strings. She has played professionally
with several orchestras of the Midwest, including the Ann Arbor, Windsor
(Ontario), and Toledo symphonies. During summer seasons she has participated in the
Great Lakes National Music Festival, the Carmel Bach Festival, and the Aspen Music
Festival, where she was concertmaster of the Concert Orchestra.
Amy has been deeply committed to teaching since her own student days. As first violinist
of the Traver String Quartet, she presented many performances and educational concerts
for school children. She has taught and performed as faculty of the Interlochen All-State
Music Camp in Interlochen, Michigan, and has served as adjunct faculty at George Fox
University in Newberg, Oregon. Presently she is active as an adjudicator and private
teacher.
In her spare time, Amy is usually found with a book or notepad. She is passionate about
poetry, classic literature, writing, nature, and her family. Given a little more spare time, she
might be found playing a gig of traditional Scottish fiddle at one of Newberg's several
coffee houses.
Amy is married to John Natzke, an engineering professor at George Fox. They have three
children: Josepha, 12, Daniel, 10, and a daughter, Anna Elizabeth, born Oct 26, 2006.