About the founder
Meet Natalie
Hi there, I'm Natalie! I've been playing piano since I could put my fingers on the piano!
Growing up, I was a busy kid. I did pretty much everything under the sun. Most of all, I loved to read and had a big imagination. I loved inventing stories and then acting them out in costume with props, complete with orchestral music backing soundtrack.
Learning the piano was not easy for me. As a young child, I would listen to a classical piano CD to fall asleep to - however, I remember staying up thinking "HOW can 10 fingers play those beautiful sounds???!?" And I was upset that my fingers didn't sound like that for a long time.
From childhood to college piano study, I had 8 different piano teachers, each one vastly different in their approach, personality, and expectations. Some worked with my personality and helped me progress and some didn't.
I wanted to quit learning piano 5-6 times growing up. Generally it was when I would hit a frustrating roadblock and I wanted to be DONE, but my mom wouldn't let me. I struggled with theory, struggled with sight-reading, struggled with rhythm, struggled with hands together... nothing came easy to me.
What I WAS good at? EXPRESSION. Dynamics, story telling, voicing, imagination. Making the music come alive with stories and characters I loved and wanted to share with others.
It was with this mindset that I played and performed later in festivals and competitions. It was so much fun to develop secret worlds and characters, to infuse my creativity and love for storytelling at the piano, making it one of my favorite places to be.
(One of my favorite performances in high school, I competed with a Chopin waltz that was my musical description about the time my sister snuck down the stairs in the middle of the night to steal some cookies that were on top of the refrigerator - only to fall off the refrigerator, breaking the door and waking up the whole house- true story!).
It was this internal source of creative joy from childhood that became a wellspring of support and depth during undergraduate and graduate collegiate piano studies. The experience was more difficult than people could ever possibly know, but I did the hard things not for their own sake, but because my own expressive potential motivated me to become better.
All the difficulty and struggle has now alchemized into playful learning strategy and compassionate patience for those who are trying and JUST WANT TO MAKE A PRETTY SOUND! (I totally get it).
While I have my professional certifications (below), what is my inner compass for the teaching approach I use with students?
Whatever would delight the little girl on the right (7 year old me) who loved to turn the piano into her creative, story-telling friend.
So here's to kids who love to improv, make up stories, experiment, play, and be creative - let's keep the PLAY in playing at the piano!
- Natalie
Natalie's Professional Bio
Pianist, musician, and entrepreneur Natalie Doughty B.M., M.M. is the current CEO and founder of inRenaissance Music & Arts (launched May 2022), a values-based music learning program.
She currently is focused on offering piano lessons through inRen piano and inRenMusik Musikgarten classes for babies, toddlers, and young ones.
She also has her own edu-inspo podcast @NatalieinRenaissance where she discusses topics that pertain to self awareness and the process of learning and performance.
Natalie was invited to teach the undergraduate piano pedagogy class at Eastern Mennonite University Fall 2024 and has been a repeat guest/presenter for both undergraduate and graduate piano pedagogy classes at James Madison University.
She was the Vice President and President of the Harrisonburg Music Teachers Association from 2019-2024. In 2022, she was interviewed for a business article in the American Music Teacher magazine.
Natalie is also currently the director and primary piano instructor/curriculum developer for the JMU Music Academy, a recreational group music learning program for adults in the Shenandoah Valley.
Her Music Academy piano class themes have included: "Pop Piano/Piano for Singer-songwriters," "Music of Color," "Music of Elvis," "Musicals," and more!
In January 2025, Natalie launched created 4 online courses on improvisation and composition from an expressive, storytelling aspect for K-12 students.
In 2024, she completed her Musikgarten training for teaching babies, toddlers, and young ones through the inRenMusik program.
In May 2023, Natalie launched a business coaching program helping people learn how to build a successful side hustle that monetizes their skills and expertise by teaching piano creatively to beginners.
From 2020-2022, she built an online piano learning program specifically for beginning adults. This program features 6 courses ranging from beginner to intermediate levels, complete with online video tutorials and e-materials.
Natalie has an active track record to promote and nurture artistic relationships and events in the community.
In partnership with various Christian churches on the East Coast, Natalie gave four benefit concerts from 2017-2019.
In 2021, she initiated music equity project "Music in Every Home," a campaign to sponsor music lessons and music instruments for 25 local students by 2025, held in partnership with the Harrisonburg Music Teachers Association/Piano Teachers Forum.
In spring 2019, Natalie was awarded an "Arts for Education" grant from the Arts Council of the Valley for a collaborative arts-integration project that she envisioned: "Expressions of Home."
In July 2019, Natalie co-presented at the National Conference on Keyboard Pedagogy (NCKP) in Lombard, Illinois.
With two of collegiate peers Natalie helped to develop and host five musical workshops for local music students from 2016-2018, among them:
📝 “Beyond The Hand Position: Teaching Injury Preventive Piano Technique to Young Students" (2017)
📝 "In and Out: Two Millennials, The Collegiate Experience, and The Real World" (2018)
📝 "Be Your Own Boss: From Career Dreams to Business" (2018)
📝 "Not Just Fun and Games: Strategic Design for Significant Learning" (2019)
Natalie helped to develop and host five musical workshops for local music students from 2016-2018, among them:
🎶 "First Steps to Artistry"
🎶 "Recipe for Musical Drama" (featured at JMU's inaugural pre-college piano day). In 2019, they were invited to lead a kids' workshop at Walkertown Library, NC.
🎶 "Who Stole Mozart's Theme" (in conjunction with JMU MTNA chapter)
Performance Training/Education/Awards:
🎹 Musikgarten Training/Certification, 2025
🎹 Injury Preventive Piano Technique Workshop (Salem College, NC), 2017
🎹 Honorable Mention, 2017 West Virginia Intl. Piano Competition
🎹 Master of Music degree, high marks, James Madison University, 2017 (full assistantship)
🎹 Rebecca Penneys Piano Festival (Florida), 2016
🎹 Dublin International Piano Festival (Ireland), 2015 - scholarship recipient
🎹 Zodiac Music Festival (Valdeblore, France), 2015
🎹 Bachelors of Music degree summa cum laude in piano performance, James Madison University (Harrisonburg, VA), 2015
Natalie has enjoyed additional masterclass coachings and private lessons with artists such as Jean Paul Sevilla, Francine Kay, Edmund Battersby, Evelyne Brancart, Christopher Harding, Rebecca Penneys, and Barbara Lister-Sink.
In the Press
Guitar Heroes: The Music in Every Home Project - the collaboration between Oasis Art and Craft, Yamaha, and the Harrisonburg Music Teacher Association under the direction of Natalie Doughty
Students' Art Highlights Habitat for Humanity - the collaboration between the Rockingham Co School System and the inRenaissance Sudio to highlight Habitat for Humanity housing projects and awareness
JMU School of Music offers Program with Piano and Guitar Lessons for Adults - featuring the JMU Music Academy and opportunity for local adults to learn music in a recreational way
JMU Piano Student One Of 16 Selected To Attend Dublin International Piano Festival (DNR) - describing Natalie's journey to attend a worldclass festival in Dublin, Ireland.