University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music Names Eminent Scholar in Chamber Music

Four-time GRAMMY Award-winning cellist Nick Photinos will assume the role, joining the school’s esteemed performing and media arts faculty members

Ohio’s University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (CCM) has named cellist Nick Photinos as its new chamber music professor and Eminent Scholar.

To begin his tenure on August 15, 2023, he will succeed CCM Professor Emeritus and pianist James Tocco in the Eminent Scholar role. Tocco served on the CCM faculty from 1991 to 2021.

Alongside developing chamber music opportunities at the school in his role as a professor, Photinos will participate in chamber music coaching, curriculum, concerts, competitions, and community partnerships as CCM’s Eminent Scholar. 

He will also develop, teach, and promote CCM courses and programs in entrepreneurship, innovation, and professional development.

Photinos will hold the title of Ohio Eminent Scholar under the auspices of an initiative intended to attract individuals to Ohio who have achieved national and worldwide prominence. 

A Northwestern University, CCM, and Oberlin Conservatory of Music graduate, Photinos is a four-time GRAMMY Award-winning cellist and co-founder of the contemporary music sextet Eighth Blackbird, with whom he has performed for 24 years in over 1,000 concerts and premiered hundreds of new works.

He has performed solo with the Cleveland, Philadelphia, Cincinnati, Toronto, Utah, and Atlanta Symphonies, plus has appeared at venues such as the Sydney Opera House, London’s Barbican Centre, Seoul’s KBC Hall, Carnegie Hall, Walt Disney Hall, and Red Rocks Amphitheater. He has also recorded with the Cedille, Nonesuch, New Amsterdam, Greenleaf and Naxos labels. 

He previously served on the faculties of the Longy School of Music of Bard College, the University of Michigan, and Northwestern University. He performs in the Grossman Ensemble at the Chicago Center for Contemporary Composition, and has taught at the Bang on a Can Summer Music Festival since 2007.

His accolades include Musical America’s Ensemble of the Year Award, the MacArthur Award for Creative and Effective Institutions, the Chamber Music America Visionary Award, the Naumburg Award, and the Concert Artists Guild Grand Prize.

“Throughout its history, CCM has been privileged to count some of the world's most distinguished chamber musicians among its faculty and alumni,” said CCM’s Interim Dean Jonathan Kregor. “[It’s] especially fitting that CCM’s first new Eminent Scholar in Chamber Music in more than 30 years is a performer and master teacher with ties to the CCM family. Nick Photinos’ illustrious career is a ‘proof-of-concept’ for what can be achieved with a truly immersive and supportive performing arts education.”

“I am incredibly excited and honored to return to CCM as Eminent Scholar in Chamber Music, the position previously held by James Tocco,” said Photinos. “James was crucial to the early years of Eighth Blackbird, the ensemble I co-founded in 1996 and was with for 24 years: after our formation at Oberlin Conservatory as undergrads, we were lucky enough to meet James [who] encouraged us to enroll in CCM's Artist Diploma in Chamber Music program,” Photinos reflected. “Eighth Blackbird formed at Oberlin, but we became professionals at CCM.”

“It gives me great joy to continue the legacy of excellence that James Tocco created, and to build upon it to help the next generation of musicians,” he continued. “I look forward to working side-by-side with CCM’s immensely talented faculty, including the Ariel String Quartet and many others, to create a chamber music program that reflects and grows that excellence, and helps CCM students to create careers that redefine the field, just as it did with Eighth Blackbird.”