- Class of 2011, Princeton University -
Nick DiBerardino (b. 1989) is a contemporary composer of concert music, film scores, electronic music, and jazz. He concentrated in music composition at Princeton University, where he twice earned the Shapiro Prize for Academic Excellence, was elected early to Phi Beta Kappa, and received the Edward T. Cone Memorial Prize for excellence in music theory and composition. Nick’s compositional work has garnered awards from the Music Teachers’ National Association, the National Federation of Music Clubs, the New York Art Ensemble, and ASCAP, and it has allowed him to study with the New York Youth Symphony, the European American Musical Alliance, the Brevard Music Center, the Bowdoin International Music Festival, the Aspen Music Festival, and Yale’s Norfolk New Music Workshop. At Princeton, Nick founded the Undergraduate Composers Collective, a collaborative group of composers dedicated to helping each other expand their musical ideas and secure performances of their work. Consistent with his belief in the transformative power of music, he also founded and directed Back in Tune, an initiative designed to provide needy students in Bridgeport, Connecticut with musical instruction and to collect, refurbish, and distribute used instruments on their behalf. In his music, Nick strives to craft narratives that are complex and intricate but also beautiful and broadly accessible. He hopes to reach out to new audiences throughout his career, and he will always seek to spread his passion for music and to harness its powerful ability to draw communities together. Thanks to the support of the Rhodes Trust, Nick is currently pursuing an M.Phil in Music Composition at the University of Oxford, where he studies with Robert Saxton.
