Natacha Diels’ work combines choreographed movement, video animation, instrumental
practice, and cynical play to create worlds of curiosity and unease. Recent work includes
Papillon and the Dancing Cranes, for construction cranes and giant butterfly (Borealis Festival
2018, Dear Antwerp 2021), a collaborative work with Ensemble Pamplemousse (Darmstadt
2021), a solo project entitled Somewhere Beautiful (Klangspuren 2022, Music Current,
SwoonFest, nyMusikk, Kongsberg Jazz Festival 2023) and an ongoing 6-part TV-style
miniseries with the JACK quartet (TIME:SPANS, Banff Centre for the Arts, Barlow Foundation,
Penn Live Arts). With a focus on collage, collaboration, and the ritual of life as art, Natacha’s
compositions have been described as “a fairy tale for a fractured world” (Music We Care About)
and “the liveliest music of the evening” (LA Review of Books). Natacha is a founding member of
the composer/performer collective Ensemble Pamplemousse (est. 2003). Pamplemousse
specializes in unique aspects of new music composition, from complex virtuosic instrumental
performance to experimental theatre to electronic and robotic performance.
Notable commissions include those from the Borealis Festival for Papillon and the Dancing
Cranes; the Fromm Foundation for Talea Ensemble (2022); Darmstadt International Summer
Institute (2021); the Barlow Foundation for Episode 4 of Beautiful Trouble, for JACK quartet
(2022); the Los Angeles Philharmonic for the green Umbrella Series [Laughing to Forget]
(2018); and Deustchland Radio Kultur in Berlin for Ensemble Adapter [Sad Music for Lonely
People] (2019). Natacha’s work has been performed globally by Ensemble Adapter, Ensemble
Intercontemporain, Nadar Ensemble, hand werk, Ensemble Decoder, TAK Ensemble, Quatuor
Impact, JACK Quartet; and soloists Jay Campbell, Laura Cocks, Samuel Favre, Ross Karre,
Rane Moore, and Charlotte Mundy, among others. She has also created several short films and
music videos which have been screened in Denmark, NYC, Chicago, Budapest, and Hungary.
Natacha holds degrees in performance, digital media, and composition from New York
University and Columbia University.

Natacha holds degrees in performance, digital media, and composition from New York University and Columbia University.