Nick Monteiro, pianist

Emotion, exciting audience engagement, and virtuosic excellence describe Nickolas Monteiro’s piano playing in a nutshell. Nick enjoys to play classical, jazz, and contemporary music. He also composes original songs and creates unique music arrangements for ensembles. His style is as limitless as his role models, influenced by the jazz piano playing of Red Garland and Chick Corea, the compositions of Pat Methany, the showmanship of the rock supergroup “Journey”, and the timeless musical legacies left behind by Beethoven and Rachmaninoff. Nick started playing the piano at the age of 7, and has tirelessly been working to improve his playing ever since. Shortly after receiving his high school diploma from Idaho Arts Charter School, he received the opportunity to study piano at Northwest Nazarene University where he plays regular classical recitals, performs with the “Cerberus” and “Epiphany” chamber trios, gigs regularly with the “Jazz Renaissance” and “Northwesterners” combos, and can be found playing music throughout the Treasure Valley and beyond. Nick recently returned from a NNU sponsored trip to China with his school peers, where he performed at Northwest University in Xi’an and played at the East Shore Jazz Club in Beijing. Nick has played in local bands such as “Introspection” and “Town of Trees”. He is also a highly sought-after accompanist both in and out of NNUs music circles. He is excited to continue practicing for his upcoming junior recital, and is thrilled to be a part of Opera Elect’s “New Music Concert Series”! This is Nick’s second year playing accompaniment for the fine musicians at Opera Elect.