Biography

Nicholas Rada is a pianist and a leading pedagogue in the Vancouver Area.

He has taught privately since 1999, and has been based in Vancouver, B.C., since 2005. His students have been regular competition winners both nationally and internationally, with many receiving first place at North Shore Music Festival, Richmond Music Festival, Kiwanis Music Festival, Student Performer’s Guild, Pacific Youth International Music Festival, Pacific Rim International Piano Competition, Seattle Young Artist’s Music Festival, among others.

Nicholas Rada’s students have given notable performances at international music festivals, achieved gold and silver medals in national and international piano competitions, and have gained acceptance into numerous notable universities, going on to study piano performance at higher institutions. Since 2015, at least 20 students of Nicholas Rada have been finalists in the Canadian Music Competition, and at least 16 have won first, second, or third in the finals. Students of Nicholas Rada also annually receive marks above 90% on their Royal Conservatory of Music Exams in piano performance.

Nicholas believes it is important to engage actively with the music community, and aims to encourage community engagement among his students, who perform at senior’s homes, community centers, and charity events every year. Nicholas is proud to have built a studio of serious young musicians, who are interested in not only in studying piano and theory, but advancing on to become young performers engaged in a multitude of musical activities. His students have gone on to advance their musical studies at a graduate level, with many having fruitful careers in music.

Since 2000, Nicholas has been providing masterclasses internationally, and has traveled abroad as a piano coach to Switzerland, Germany, Italy, and across the United States, including Greenville (South Carolina’s Governor’s School for the Arts), Seattle, Hartford, New Canaan, and New York. He has been a returning faculty member at Music Fest Perugia since 2017. Nicholas has been a judge at the C3 Piano Concerto Competition in Calgary, and a regularly returning judge at the Festival on the Lake since 2008.

Nicholas grew up in Vancouver, B.C., and was first taught to play and improvise by his father. Formal piano lessons continued in the hands of Patricia Hoebig, at which time Nicholas also began studying the violin under Helmut Hoebig. His early musical education consisted of intensive piano, violin, chamber music, and orchestra coaching with The Vancouver Youth Symphony Orchestra and The Vancouver Academy of Music. Nicholas went on to complete his Bachelor’s (with distinction) with a major in music and a minor in math at The State University of New York (Purchase) under the tutelage of Dr. Sasha Starcevich. In 1999, Nicholas was a regional finalist in the Music Teachers National Association Competition, as well as a top prizewinner in the national finals of the Canadian Music Competition. Following his Bachelor’s at Purchase, Nicholas went on to receive his Master’s at the University of British Columbia under the tutelage of Sara Davis Buechner.

Performance opportunities have brought him to such cities as Vienna, Salzburg, Prague, Czeske Budejovice, Munich, Baden-Baden, Perugia, Udine, New York, Boston, New Haven, Montreal, Calgary, Edmonton, Victoria, Vancouver, Seattle and many others. He has performed with numerous orchestras, most recently appearing with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, Il Soloisti di Perugia, the Vancouver Academy of Music, and the Vancouver Youth Symphony Orchestra.