Biography
Quotes from Performance Reviews

Biography
Nicholas Crosa has performed as a soloist with such orchestras as the Oregon Symphony, the Vancouver Symphony, the Aspen Concert Orchestra, the Aspen Young Artists Orchestra, the Portland Youth Philharmonic and other ensembles. He also recently performed as a collaborative artist with the Florestan Trio. Mr. Crosa won the gold medal and first prize at the 1998 Stulberg International String Competition and was also first prize winner in the 1997 Nakamichi Foundation Paganini violin concerto competition at the Aspen Music Festival. Other awards include first prizes in the 1996 National String Competition of the Music Teachers National Association, the 1995 Oregon Symphony's Corbett Young Artists Competition and the 1995 Portland Youth Philharmonic concerto competition. He was also a prize winner at the 1996 Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition. Mr. Crosa recently was selected as the 1998 Stulberg Artist-in-Residence at Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo, Michigan.

His first major appearance as a soloist was at age 11, with the Portland Festival Symphony and his international debut occurred in 1996 when he performed a recital series as a guest of the Conservatory of Music of the City of Buenos Aires, in Argentina. Mr. Crosa has also performed in chamber music recitals and as a soloist at: the Bayer-Benedict Music Tent, the Music Hall and Harris Hall at the Aspen Music Festival, the Dalton Music Center and the Fontana Festival for Music and the Arts in Michigan,the Portland Center for the Performing Arts, the Franz Liszt Musik Hochschule in Weimar, and other cities in Germany and at various other venues in Portland, Missoula, Savannah and New York.

In Portland he studied with Carol Sindell, and he also was a scholarship student of the late Dorothy De Lay (pictured right) at the Juilliard School in New York where he also studied chamber music with harpsichordist Albert Fuller and cellist Jerry Grossman. He is presently the lead violinist with Pink Martini.

Quotes from Performance Reviews

... In the Pink Martini-Oregon Symphony concert ... violinist Nicholas Crosa performed [Kreisler's] Praeludium and Allegro with quick silver agility...
David Stabler, the Oregonian, Thursday June 2, 2009

... One of the standout performances was by violinist Nicholas Crosa... his performance was just jaw dropping resulting in a standing ovation...
Indymusic.wordpress.com/2009/10/19/Pink Martini Concert

“…featured guest violinist Nicholas Crosa opened the second part of the concert with a subtle and technically impeccable performance of Korngold violin concerto…The first and second movement's melodies were heady, lush and high Romantic, demanding impressive finger and bow work …while the melodies were swooning, Crosa's style was not, and his restrained, almost gracious playing allowed him to eke (out) every aching note from his instrument…many passages required virtuosity, and Crosa was up to the challenge…”

“… Crosa's encore was the haunting theme from the film "Schindler's List," and there were few dry eyes in the house. It was simply gorgeous….”
Gail Westerfield
The Island Packet, March, 2005, Hilton Head Island, South Carolina

“… , Crosa more than rose to the challenge of Barber’s violin concerto with outstanding artistic technique and interpretation. He masterfully played the lyrical and sometimes tranquil first movement and floated into the second with grace and clarity. Crosa then nailed the speedy and difficult third movement flawlessly and with artistic purpose...”
James Bash
The Columbian, March, 2004, Vancouver, Washington

“…Crosa immediately put his stamp on the lofty music, with a warm tone and richly Romantic phrasing...Crosa brought a thrilling bite to the finale (of the Brahms violin concerto)…”
David Stabler
The Oregonian, May 2002

"… beautiful and refined tone, world-class technique Crosa's stunning
performance brought a standing ovation…"
The Kalamazoo Gazette, Michigan, March 1998

"...particularly exciting was Crosa's lightning quick bowing in the final
movement of the Saint-Saens sonata…“…Crosa (also) had a chance to show his skill in Paganini’s flamboyant Moses Variation for the G String…”
Holly Johnson
The Oregonian, June 1997

“… after he finished his performance (of the Paganini Violin Concerto) the crowd rose to its feet and would not stop applauding…”
Ethan G. Machado
Our Town February 10, 1997

“…Crosa really got hold of the passionate masterpiece Tzigane by Ravel for a magnificent finale. The gipsy material - rhythms, melodies harmonies – came across in a fiery performance that …brought the entire audience to its feet, stomping and cheering before the last note faded…”
Ellen Bussing
The Oregonian, May 27, 1996

“… rich and lovely sound, first rate technique and, most important of all, a gift for playing not just notes, not just violin, but Music…”
David Maclaine
Willamette Week, February 1996

" ...Crosa's performance was daring but not reckless or flashy...no nuance
escaped his attention...his performance earned him an standing ovation..."
Amy Martinez Starke
The Oregonian, February 1996

“… Nicholas Crosa’s mastery of the Sarasate showpiece “Carmen Fantasy” can only be described as awesome…”
Amy Martinez Starke
The Oregonian, December 10, 1995

“… Serenade to Music by Ralph Vaughn William was lovely, gentle and delicate… 16 year old concermaster Nicholas Crosa’s solo work was exquisite…”
Amy Martinez Starke
The Oregonian, November 20, 1995

“… Vibrant tone and cool efficiency characterized Nicholas Crosa’s violin performance of Pablo Sarasate’s devilish difficult Carmen Fantasy. Crosa didn’t just overcome the obstacles; he tossed them off with nimble fingers and quicksilver bowing…”
David Stabler
The Oregonian, May 1995

… Crosa played the Mendelssohn with authority and obvious enjoyment… he allowed humor and personality to show through…he is capable of both, gutsy playing as demonstrated in the cadenza, and of a sweet, light tone…”
James McQuillen
The Oregonian

“… Nicholas Crosa 12, stepped out to a solo spot in the Metropolitan Youth Symphony concert, with the Adagio – Allegro aperto, from Mozart’s violin concerto No. 5 in A Major. He managed the virtuoso passages with considerable aplomb. He is a talent to watch…”
Phil Hunt
The Oregonian, December 9, 1991

Comments by two of the judges of the 1998 Stulberg International Competition in which Nicholas Crosa won the gold medal, the Stulberg Legacy Award and was also named Stulberg’s Artist in Residence for 1999:

“… I liked his reckless abandon – he takes a lot of risks when he plays and he brings it off, and I think taking risks is an absolutely necessary thing to be a performer – you can’t achieve brilliance without risk taking. The Korngold is a spectacular piece, very, very difficult and very rarely played in this country…”
Myron Kartman, Professor of violin at Northwestern University

“… The Korngold violin concerto is a famously hard piece… Crosa played it with great security and temperament…”
Max Wilcox, Grammy Award winner recording producer