Natalia Bolshakova was born in Moscow, Russia, where she studied at the Dmitri Shostakovich School of Music, the Ippolitoff-Ivanoff College of Music and the Moscow Conservatory. In 2000 she received her Master of Music degree in piano performance at the University of North Texas. Currently she is completing her Doctor of Musical Arts degree at UNT under the guidance of Professor Joseph Banowetz.  

Ms. Bolshakova has been a prizewinner in many competitions including: the New Orleans International Piano Competition, the Shreveport International Piano Competition, the Jose Iturbi International Piano Competition, a first prize winner of the Vysochina International Piano Competition in Zdar, Czech Republic and in 1997 was the gold medalist in the Ima Hogg Young Artist International Competition where she performed as featured soloist with the Houston Symphony Orchestra. Ms. Bolshakova has performed as a soloist with orchestras across the United States and in Eastern Europe.   In 1997, she was sited by the BBC Music Magazine as "one of the most promising musicians of the younger generation." She can be heard on numerous Crystal Records recordings with trumpet soloist John Holt.