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 given numerous world and regional premieres by composers such as John Luther Adams, Paul Moravec, Anne LeBaron, and Gernot Wolfgang, among others. Nic has performed throughout Southern California and abroad in such venues as Walt Disney Concert Hall, Zipper Hall, the Wallis Annenberg Center, the Ojai Music Festival and the Banff International Keyboard Festival. Nic is the newest Core Artist for Los Angeles new music organization Piano Spheres. His November 2025 solo recital, Islands, received great critical acclaim and was selected as one of San Francisco Classical Voice’s “Best Performances of 2025”.

Nic’s recent works include the Makrokosmos 50 Project, celebrating the 50th Anniversary of George Crumb’s seminal work Makrokosmos Volume I. He commissioned eleven composers to join him in writing musical responses to one movement of Crumb’s epic masterwork and to create a whole new celestial cycle. His performances of The Makrokosmos 50 Project and his subsequent studio recording of the program have garnered significant critical acclaim. Nic is the co-curator of the Wicked GOAT concert series at the Pasadena Conservatory of Music, which seeks to introduce younger audiences to contemporary music. These themed concerts feature exciting programs performed by some of Los Angeles’ top musicians, and include immersive and multimedia elements.

Nic has performed as a soloist in modern piano concerti by some of today’s most talented emerging composers. He gave the World Premiere composer Dale Trumbore’s piano concerto “10,000 Hours” with the USC Thornton Symphony Orchestra, under the baton of Donald Crockett. He gave the American premiere of Thomas Demenga’s “Relations”, a double concerto for two cellos, percussion and prepared piano. He also performed Reena Esmail’s “Earth Speaks”, a concerto for piano, horn and SATB chorus, with the Pasadena Master Chorale, conducted by Jeffrey Bernstein. Nic has performed with Los Angeles-based ensembles such as Brightwork newmusic, WildUP and The Industry L.A., and premiered new works for Magnetic Resonator Piano with People Inside Electronics. He has collaborated with such world-renowned artists as Martin Chalifour, Hila Plitmann and Judith Farmer. Nic’s playing is also featured on composer Gernot Wolfgang’s GRAMMY-nominated chamber music album “Passing Through”, released in 2016 on the Albany Label.

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 served on the Piano Faculty at the Pasadena Conservatory of Music since 2006, and joined the Faculty at Scripps College in 2024.