Nicholas Denton Protsack

An ongoing aspiration of BMI Award-winning composer and cellist, Nicholas Denton Protsack, is to seek new connections between music and the natural world. Called a "(composer) to keep a close eye on" by the Canadian Music Centre, Nicholas' ecologically informed music includes composed works, studio albums, and experimental improvisations, and has been featured in a wide variety of concert settings across North America, Europe, and New Zealand. Recent accomplishments include two first prizes in the 2021 SOCAN Foundation Young Composers Awards and commissioned works for the Toronto Summer Music Festival and the American Prize-winning Ensemble for These Times (E4TT).

As a cellist, Nicholas is an active freelance performer and advocate of new music—frequently involved in collaborative projects that range from traditional to highly experimental concert idioms. He is a founding member of New Zealand's Moth Quartet, as well as the Canadian-based Branchroot Ensemble. Although primarily a chamber musician, he has also appeared as a soloist with the Okanagan Symphony Orchestra and the San Francisco Conservatory Orchestra.

Nicholas is currently undertaking a PhD in music at Victoria University of Wellington (NZ), studying with composers Michael Norris and Dugal McKinnon. His other major teachers have included David Garner (composition), Jean-Michel Fonteneau (cello), Jennifer Culp (cello), and Morna Howie (cello).

For more information, visit www.dentonprotsack.com.