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Dr. Nick Weiser

D.M.A., Eastman School of Music

http://www.nickweiser.com

Dr. Nick Weiser is that most rare combination - a musician's musician, and a musical ambassador to the masses. A communicative artist skilled not only as a pianist, conductor, and bandleader, but as a composer, arranger, educator, and scholar, Weiser has performed to acclaim as a soloist and collaborator in numerous idioms. Diligence, curiosity, and love of music led him from his tiny hometown of Dighton, Kansas first to the University of Kansas, and then on to the Eastman School of Music, where he earned his M.M. and D.M.A. in the Department of Jazz Studies & Contemporary Media under the tutelage and mentorship of Harold Danko and Bill Dobbins, among others.



Weiser has dazzled audiences around the United States and in Europe with performances at the Santiago de Cuba International Jazz Festival, the Montreux Jazz Festival, the Umbria Jazz Festival, the Xerox Rochester International Jazz Festival, New York City’s “Prez Fest,” and Carnegie Hall. He has enjoyed performance engagements with musicians including Dick Oatts, Byron Stripling, Bob Brookmeyer, Christian McBride, Peter Erskine, and the New York Voices. Highly regarded as a collaborative pianist, Weiser appears on recent CD releases by tubist Justin Benevidez of Florida State University, longtime Ithaca College trumpet professor Frank Gabriel Campos, and Weiser’s own jazz trio, i3°, featuring bassist Nicholas Walker and drummer Greg Evans. He is in the process of recording his own solo piano album, to be released in 2020.



A passionate and dedicated educator, Weiser has been the architect and director of the Jazz Studies curriculum at the State University of New York at Fredonia since the program began in 2017. Among his duties at SUNY Fredonia, Weiser is proud to conduct two stellar big bands, the Fredonia Jazz Orchestra and the DownBeat award-winning New Jazz Ensemble. In the greater Fredonia community, Weiser serves as artistic director of the Fredonia Jazz Society, which he co-founded, performing regularly and facilitating concerts sponsored by the organization. Prior to coming to Fredonia, Weiser taught at Ithaca College from 2011 to 2017 and at Cornell University from 2013 to 2017, and has maintained a private teaching studio for many years.

Teaching Interests

Jazz Ensembles, Jazz Improvisation, Jazz Standard Repertoire

Research Interests

Jazz Pedagogy, The Music of Pianist Clare Fischer

Awards and Honors

  • Quarterfinalist (2020 and 2021 GRAMMY Music Educator Award, National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (2022).
  • Student Music Award: 2022 Outstanding Performance by a Large Jazz Ensemble - Undergraduate College, DownBeat Magazine (2022).
  • William T. and Charlotte N. Hagan Young Scholar/Artist Award, The State University of New York at Fredonia (2021).
  • Student Music Award: 2019 Outstanding Performance by a Large Jazz Ensemble - Undergraduate College, DownBeat Magazine (2019).

Intellectual Contributions

  • "Making Jazz Transcribing Accessible to Everyone: A Scalable Approach," Jazz Education in Research and Practice (2021).
  • "Teaching Jazz Standards," Oxford University Press (2019).

Performances/Exhibits

  • "Dana Wilson: Concerto for Jazz Piano and Wind Ensemble," Eastman Wind Ensemble, Eastman School of Music, Kodak Hall (2022).
  • "Dana Wilson: Concerto for Jazz Piano and Wind Ensemble," University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire Wind Ensemble, University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, Pablo Center at the Confluence (2022).
  • "The Music of Daniel Guzman-Loyzaga," The Cuban Connection, University of Richmond, Camp Concert Hall, Modlin Center for the Arts (2022).
  • "Dana Wilson: Concerto for Jazz Piano and Orchestra (World Premiere)," Fredonia Symphony Orchestra, , King Concert Hall, Rockefeller Arts Center (2022).
  • "With Eyes Glancing Skyward by Fredonia composer Rob Deemer," Sarah Hamilton and Nick Weiser, , YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pGuCA6evtDE (2021).
  • "Nature Boy by Eden Ahbez for two oboes and jazz piano," Sarah Hamilton, Nick Weiser, Aaron Hill, , YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pGuCA6evtDE (2021).
  • "Performance for the Erie Phil with Erie's WQLN," Sarah Hamilton and Nick Weiser, , Erie, PA WQLN (2021).

Presentations

  • "Making Jazz Transcribing Accessible to Everyone: A Scalable Approach," Jazz Education Network Annual Conference (2023).
Dr. Nick Weiser

Dr. Nick Weiser

Associate Professor (Coordinator Jazz)
Composition
Jazz Studies
Major Ensemble Directors
Music Performance

2165 Mason Hall
(716) 673-4640
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