Born in London in 1984, Nathalie Shaw made her concerto debut at the age of ten with a performance of Mozart’s D major Violin Concerto K218.
Nathalie studied in London with David Takeno, in the U.S.A. at the Meadowmount School of Music and, with the aid of a Zaleski Foundation Scholarship, in Paris and Italy with Olivier Charlier and Ana Chumachenko. She became a Fellow of the Royal Schools of Music (F.R.S.M.) in 2004. Nathalie is a laureate of the Avignon International Competition, the Vatelot-Rampal Violin Competition and in 2007, she won 1st prize in the “Union Française des Musiciens” violin competition in Paris.

Nathalie gives recitals in festivals and music clubs in the U.K., France, Italy, Switzerland and the U.S.A Over the last three years alone she has appeared as soloist with orchestra in concertos by Brahms, Beethoven, Bruch, Chausson, Dvorak, Mendelssohn, Saint-Saëns, Sarasate, Sibelius, Vieuxtemps and Vivaldi. Her performances of Paganini’s 1st Violin Concerto with the Leeds Sinfonia and the Nottingham Symphony Orchestra were described as “heart-stopping”, “dazzling” and “full of bubbling wit” (Nottingham Evening Post).

She has developed a wide-ranging recital repertoire and has a specialist knowledge and experience in the contemporary music field. In 2008 she gave the world première of Jérôme Combier’s « Anima Foglia » for Solo Violin in the Lucerne Festival, Switzerland and appeared as soloist in Stravinsky’s Concertino conducted by Pierre Boulez. Boulez subsequently invited her to give further performances of « Anima Foglia » at the Musée du Louvre, Paris, as part of the series “Le Louvre invite Pierre Boulez” , broadcast live on Radio France. This season, she has premièred solo works by the French composers Sébastien Béranger and Jérome Combier, also broadcast on French radio, and the American composer Steve Ricks, together with numerous other solo and chamber works in Europe and the USA in her capacity as Solo Violin of the Ensemble Multilatérale (Paris) and of the Pittsburgh New Music Ensemble (USA). Following a première of “Arches” for Solo Violin by Kevin Puts The Pittsburgh Tribune described her virtuosity as “stunning” and “mesmerizing”.

Nathalie works regularly with the Ensemble Intercontemporain (under the direction of Pierre Boulez, Susanna Malkki, Francois-Xavier Roth…) and is involved with many projects and recordings at IRCAM, as well as giving frequent masterclasses at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Paris to young contemporary composers.

A passionate chamber musician, she is Artistic Director of the “Festival International de Musique de Chambre en Charente” founded four years ago in South-West France by the Shaw String Trio (with her father, Julian Shaw - viola and brother Jacob Shaw - ‘cello).

Nathalie Shaw currently holds a professorship at the Conservatoire Darius Milhaud (14th arrondissement, Paris).