Overview
Bechtold Jewelry is proud to be hosting composer and pianist Nikolas James for their June First Friday event. Join them in enjoying his live performance in their store while you explore their beautiful selection of jewelry!
Nikolas is delighted to have this First Friday opportunity to share his talents with everyone in his new home of Sioux Falls. Originally from Western Maryland, Nikolas completed a dual Masters degree in Las Vegas, Nevada, where he also taught college courses for about a decade at four undergraduate institutions in the city. At UNLV he studied piano with Mykola Suk, and composition with Virko Baley. It was in these studios that he is continually grateful to have had the opportunity to share his scores with many visiting composers, a number of whom were recipients of the Pulitzer Prize in their field. He served as the founding president of the Nevada Chamber Orchestra, just prior to moving to Sioux Falls, South Dakota with his new wife. He was also a founding officer of the New Encounters Of New music festival (NEON) while a graduate student. He has served on many adjudicating panels for various schools devoted to advanced piano studies, in addition to maintaining regular duties teaching algebra, electronics, physics and music theory to undergraduates. He has written and digitally realized works for both film and video game media, and he is eagerly looking forward to expanding music composition into a full-time occupation for life.