Nic Gerpe
Pianist Nic Gerpe, a Los Angeles native, has been hailed as “magnetic” (Dan Johnson, L.A. Downtown News) and “prodigious… heroic” (Kevin McMahon, silverlakeblvd.com). L.A. Times music critic Mark Swed described his playing as “wonderfully illuminating… his tone is crystalline. His technique is dazzlingly fluid.” A dedicated proponent of new music, Nic has worked with composers such as Steve Reich, Gernot Wolfgang, Anne LeBaron, Michael Gordon and Donald Crockett, and has given numerous world and regional premieres in the Los Angeles area and abroad. Nic has performed throughout Southern California and at festivals including the Beverly Hills International Music Festival, Banff International Keyboard Festival, and the Tahoe Chamber Music Festival. Nic has performed in such venues as Walt Disney Concert Hall, Zipper Hall, and the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts. Nic’s performances have also been nationally broadcast on 91.5 KUSC and classicalkusc.org.
Nic recently performed a critically-acclaimed solo recital at the Roy And Edna Disney Cal Arts Theater as a part of L.A.-based Piano Spheres’ new Satellite Series. He also gave the World Premiere of James Matheson’s “Chapter 1…” at Walt Disney Concert Hall as part of the “Radical Light” tribute to Steven Stucky. Nic performed as part of the Green Umbrella series’ “Noon to Midnight” concert, an all-day celebration of contemporary music, at Disney Hall. Recently, he performed on the Sundays Live series, the longest-running live music broadcast in L.A., at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.
Along with violinist Pasha Tseitlin, Nic is the co-founder of Panic Duo, an ensemble dedicated to contemporary music. Upcoming season highlights include performances at Boston Court Performing Arts Center and The Phoenix Concerts in New York City, as well as guest artist recitals at Cal Arts and Cal State L.A.
As a concerto soloist, Nic has collaborated with the USC Thornton Symphony Orchestra and the Pasadena Master Chorale, performing modern concerti by Thomas Demenga, Reena Esmail and Dale Trumbore. Nic has performed with Los Angeles-based new music groups WildUP and The Industry L.A., and premiered new works for Magnetic Resonator Piano with People Inside Electronics. Additionally, he has collaborated with such world-renowned artists as Andrew Bain, Michele Zukovsky, Jack van Geem and Judith Farmer.
Nic earned his Doctor of Musical Arts Degree in Piano Performance at the University of Southern California in 2012. He studied extensively with Bernadene Blaha, Kevin Fitz-Gerald and Stewart Gordon.
Nic has been on the Piano Faculty of the Pasadena Conservatory of Music since 2006.