Pianist Nicholas Ho hails from Singapore and holds a Bachelors of Music in Piano Performance (Distinction) from the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University, as well as a Masters of Music in Piano Performance from the Chicago College of Performing Arts, where he studied with Edward Auer. He had previously studied with American pianist Tedd Joselson in Singapore.

In 2006, Nicholas appeared in the Channel News Asia mini-documentary series, “Wonder Kids of Asia”, and went on to have his concerto debut with Mozart’s 14th Piano Concerto in 2007. He had subsequently made several concerto appearances with various orchestras in Singapore, with works including Prokofiev’s Third Piano Concerto, Rachmaninoff’s Third Piano Concerto, and most recently, the world premiere performance of Robert Casteel’s Concerto pour piano et orchestra de chambre. His performance of Prokofiev’s Third Piano Concerto was described by The Straits Times as “electrifying”. Also an avid recitalist, Nicholas has given numerous recitals in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, for various charitable causes. In addition, he has also given Asian and American premieres of new solo piano works. Nicholas was a Piano Fellow at the 2018 Manchester Music Festival, where he performed major chamber works including Schumann’s Piano Quintet, Shostakovich’s Piano Trio no. 1, and Milhaud’s La Creation du Monde.

Amongst various accolades, Nicholas was awarded the Jury Special Prize at the 5th Asian Youth Music Competition Open Category in 2012, Second Prize at the 2018 Young Concert Artists International Audition, and Winner of the CCPA Concerto Competition. Nicholas is a currently a doctoral student with a full tuition scholarship at the Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, under the tutelage of Israeli-American pianist Ran Dank.

Highlights of the 2019-2020 season include a debut recital in Steinway Hall in New York City, as well as the Rachmaninoff Third Piano Concerto in Chicago.

Also a composer, Nicholas recently premiered his Three Songs for mezzo-soprano and piano in Chicago. One of his most recent compositions, Elegy – In Memory of Rosalie, a flute and cello duet, was premiered in Banff, Canada, in February 2019. His Sonata for Violin and Piano also received its full premiere in Cincinnati, Ohio, in March 2020. Nicholas studied composition privately with eminent Singaporean composer Tan Chan Boon. Current compositional projects include a monumental set of 12 Études for solo piano.

Nicholas also enjoys solving puzzles; he developed the “Sandwich Method”, a direct-solving method for higher order Rubik’s cubes (4x4x4 and above).

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