Cole, Nathan

He is a violinist and teacher who grew up in Lexington, Kentucky whose parents were both flute teachers and whose grandfather had been a flautist with the Philadelphia Orchestra. He got his first lessons in violin at a Suzuki class when he was four years old after which he got his first violin. He would practice at home with this mother as well as in his Suzuki class lessons and made his debut with the Louisville Orchestra when he was 10 years old.

From the time he was 12 he attended summer programs for the violin and finished his Suzuki lessons so went on to study with Professor Daniel Mason at the University of Kentucky.

When he was 15 years old who decided to choose being a violinist as a career and went to the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia after high school. Here he also learned about playing chamber music in a quartet although aimed to play in an orchestra.

He auditioned for the Philadelphia Orchestra but was unsuccessful so he then auditioned and won a place in the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra as Principal Second Violin.

From the SPCO he went on to be a member of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra from 2002 until 2011 and then joined the Los Angeles Philharmonic as the First Associate Concertmaster in 2011.

He has gone on to perform with many other orchestras as a guest concertmaster which include the Minnesota Orchestra and the Cincinnati, Houston, Pittsburgh and Seattle symphonies. As a chamber musician he formed the Grancino String Quartet and debuted in Carnegie’s Weill Hall in New York. He has also been the Music Director for the UBS Chamber Music Festival of Lexington.

In the recording studio he performed on his own Rapid Approach and New Beginning as well as Trumpet Works by Gary Bordner, A Night Out with Friends by Richard Marx, Inscapes by Trio Voce, Augusta Read Thomas – Of Being a Bird by various artists and the soundtracks of The Predator, Baywatch and Alita: Battle Angel.

In the field of musical education he has been on the faculties of Roosevelt University in Chicago and more recently at the Azusa Pacific University, Colburn Conservatory and Thornton School of Music at USC. He has also written articles that have appeared in magazines and published videos about auditioning, performing and practicing. He has also launched he Violympics which is a 12-week program.

He is married to Los Angeles’ Assistant Concertmaster Akiko Tarumoto and they host the weekly podcast about orchestra life called Stand Partners for Life.

Sources:

Cole, Nathan

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