Violin with Nicholas B.

Nicholas B., 19 years old, studies violin at Roosevelt University’s Chicago College of Performing Arts under the teaching of Almita Vamos. He was selected his freshman year as CCPA’s 2016-17 Gloria Miner Music Scholarship recipient. Nicholas made his solo orchestral debut at the age of nine, playing with the International Gathering of Youth Orchestras.  His solo performance led Nicholas and his siblings to be featured in two segments on Fox News.  He has subsequently gone on to perform solos with the Loudoun Symphony Orchestra, the Landon Symphonette, and the MIC Academy Orchestra. He has also won top honors in many competitions, including the U.S. Army Orchestra Young Artist Competition, the Asian American International Music Competition, the Alexander and Buono International String Competition, the Loudoun Symphony Competition, the Bland Competition, the Fairfax Symphony Orchestra’s Feuer Competition, and the Music Festival in Honor of Confucius Competition.  In addition, Nicholas was a Semifinalist in the Cooper International Violin Competition, and he was named a 2015 National YoungArts Winner. He has been featured twice in the Alden Theater Young Soloist Series and has performed in New York City (both at Carnegie Hall and at Kosciuszko Foundation Auditorium), throughout the Washington DC area (at the Kennedy Center, the Music Center at Strathmore, and the Bulgarian Embassy), and in many venues throughout Virginia, Maryland and Illinois (including Chicago’s Harris Theater and Ravinia’s Bennett-Gordon Hall).  In addition to performing solo, Nicholas enjoys playing chamber and orchestra music. As a member of the Premier Quartet, Nicholas won First Prize in the 2015 Naperville Women’s Club Young Adult Music Competition, Third Prize in the 2015 A.N. & Pearl G. Barnett Chamber Music Competition, was a Finalist in the 2015 St. Paul String Quartet Competition, and was a Semifinalist in the 2015 Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition. He played first violin in the 2015 Chicago Youth in Music Festival with Ricardo Muti, and he performed regularly in the MIC Academy Chamber Orchestra. Nicholas also served as concertmaster of the New North Shore Chamber Orchestra for their 2014-2015 season. Nicholas currently performs in Roosevelt University's Symphony Orchestra.