New Zealand-born pianist Nicola Melville has been described as “having an original and intelligent musical mind” (Waikato Times), “a marvelous pianist who plays with splashy color but also exquisite tone and nuance” (American Record Guide), and “the sort of advocate any composer would love” (Dominion Post, NZ). She has performed and taught extensively throughout the US, Europe, South America, and New Zealand, and her live performances and recordings have been broadcast on Canadian, US, New Zealand, South African, and Chinese radio. Nicola has collaborated recently with members of the Kronos Quartet and the JACK quartet, and with members of the Detroit, Toledo, Columbus, Minnesota, and Saint Paul Chamber orchestras. Nicola has been involved in numerous projects with dancers, filmmakers, computer scientists, and visual artists, including performances at the Kennedy Center, Washington D.C., and Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, and has collaborated with prolific NZ/UK composer Christopher Norton in recording several CDs of works that are included in world-wide distribution by Boosey and Hawkes publishing.

Nicola attended the Victoria University School of Music, Wellington, where she studied with Judith Clark, and then earned Masters and Doctorate degrees from the Eastman School of Music, studying with Rebecca Penneys. While at Eastman, Nicola was awarded the Lizzie T. Mason prize for Outstanding Graduate Pianist, and the prestigious Performer’s Certificate. Nicola was the winner of New Zealand’s National Concerto Competition and Auckland Star Concerto Competitions, and she has been a prizewinner in several competitions in the U.S., including being the winner of the SAI Concerto Competition at the Chautauqua Festival. She has won grants from Meet the Composer, Creative New Zealand, the Argosy Fund for Contemporary Music, and the Jerome Composers Commissioning Program for the commissioning, performing, and recording of new music.

Nicola is Chair of the the piano program at the summer Chautauqua Festival Schools, N.Y., gathering world-class students and faculty to western New York every summer; she also performs 40 concerts a year as pianist of the Zeitgeist ensemble. Nicola’s recordings for the innova and Equilibrium labels include the Complete Piano Rags of William Albright, and thirteen newly commissioned works by award-winning composers such as Augusta Read Thomas and Gabriela Lena Frank. Nicola is currently the Dye Family Professor of Music at Carleton College, Minnesota, where she heads the piano and chamber music programs