“[the music] was a beam of light bouncing off the walls of the theater”
— Joshua Barone, The New York Times, on Nicole’s interpretations of Satie’s Vexations
“it’s like [Nicole] transcended into a different plane as she played”
— Kevin Berrier, Five Dubs Podcast
Nicole Brancato is “a pianist like no other.”
(Atención San Miguel)
Fascinated with contemporary expressions of our shared human experience, the NYC-based pianist merges curation, composition, and performance in collaborations across the arts. Described as “brilliant” and an “immense talent” (New York Magazine and Connect Savannah), Nicole’s credits range from the Guggenheim Museum (NYC), Rai Italia, and the Banff Centre (Canada) to Lincoln Center, Bellas Artes (Mexico), HBO, and the “underground” performances in Brooklyn warehouses.
curator, producer, composer
Nicole has curated more than 100 productions featuring 200+ compositions and commissions over the last decade. She is an awardee of the New York Foundation for the Arts (multiple years), National Sawdust’s Hildegard Commission (2022), and the New York State Council on the Arts (2024), in addition to dozens of other grant awards. In 2024, her technology+music collaboration, called Democratizing Creative Agency through Interactive Technologies and Music Education, was a recipient of the IPaT/GTRI Research & Engagement Grant.
In 2024, Nicole was commissioned by Pure.Art Circle (Italy) to create a new chamber opera called Infinitesimal in partnership with baritone/devised theater artist Jeremy Weiss. A genre-shattering work for voice, piano, and electronics, Infinitesimal interweaves memoir with cutting edge research on the experience of death to bring to light what connects us all. Her recent multimedia commissioning project The Illustrated Pianist — featured in The San Francisco Chronicle and KALW Open Air — honors the centenary of the science-fiction author Ray Bradbury. Described as “ingenious, mysterious,” and “inspiring,” the project showcased 24 new works including those by Adam Tendler, Anthony de Mare, Kathleen Supové, as well as Brancato’s own work.
Nicole’s modern big band project The Titanics re-imagined chart-topping tunes with dozens of guest-star comedians and actors, including Jackie Hoffman and Justin Vivian Bond. During its residency at the Cutting Room and the Ace Hotel, the big band made special appearances at Joe’s Pub & for HBO, and was lauded in The New Yorker & Time Out New York.
Nicole Brancato performing one of her signature programs, Harmony of the Spheres
performer, improviser, sound artist
Described as a “piano virtuoso” (The Daily Gazette, Saratoga Springs), Nicole focuses on the kinetic energy exchange in performances — with both her collaborators and her audience. In 2021, she partnered with artist Douglas Paulson to create .soundfullness: a salvaged piano installation that transforms outdoor spaces into places of deep listening, including Socrates Sculpture Park, Plaxall Gallery, Make Music New York (headlining artist), and Flux Factory.
Other collaborations include partnering with artist/author Sam Morris in “wait-list-only” performances at actor Alan Cumming’s NYC Club. Her Persephone & the Phoenix duo with violinist/composer Teagan Faran produces environmentally-focused and immersive works like 9 Ways to Destroy a Violin, commissioned by Nancy Manocherian’s the cell theatre in 2023. And with Duo Extempore, she and bassist Evan Jagels produced two cross-disciplinary films that weave together history, storytelling, and improvisation.
At the Guggenheim, Nicole participated in a “night at the museum,“ a multimedia staging of Satie’s Vexations with Christian Wolff, Philip Corner, David Del Tredici, and Joshua Rifkin, all of whom performed in John Cage’s legendary premiere of the work in 1963. This unique 19-hour concert was featured in The New York Times and Art News.
Nicole Brancato presenting a workshop on Creative Entrepreneurship at the University of North Carolina Greensboro.
leader, educator, director
A frequent guest presenter of workshops, master classes, and residencies, Nicole has delivered sessions for the Gesellschaftshaus Magdeburg (Germany); Lunigiana International Music Festival (Italy); the Sphinx Organization; Columbia University; and for universities across the US. In 2025, Nicole partnered with Georgia Institute of Technology (GTRI), where she is working with GTRI researchers as both an Artist in Residence and a curriculum specialist, exploring new intersections in STEM + Arts education.
Nicole is honored to be a 2024-2025 Artist in Residence with the New York City Department of Education at PS 329Q, curating interdisciplinary critical inquiry projects with students over the course of the academic year. Additionally, Nicole became Director of Seven Hills Chamber Music in 2022, for which she produces a standout summer festival combining classical and contemporary chamber music, educational programming, and pop-up events in the heart of Virginia.
Nicole holds degrees from CUNY Hunter College, Georgia State University, and Manhattan School of Music. As a graduate student of their distinguished Contemporary Performance Program, Nicole was a member of the acclaimed Tactus ensemble at Manhattan School of Music. She is a Yamaha Artist and a voting member of The Recording Academy (GRAMMYS). Her music is registered with ASCAP.