Nathaniel LaNasa

  • Instructor LevelPiano
  • Certification LevelInstructor, Dec. 2023
  • Taubman Teacher/MentorRobert Durso
  • Educational BackgroundBM, Manhattan School of Music; MM and GD, The Juilliard School

Contact Info:

  • New York City (full-time); Seattle, WA (seasonal)

Pianist Nathaniel LaNasa lives at the intersection of song, story, and image. His recital-exhibition “Memory Prosthetic” explores the mechanics and conventions of musical notation through projections that accompany a live performance of Bach’s Goldberg Variations. Nate recently originated the role of Mel, a graduate student pianist, in Bryce McClendon’s play, “The Smallest Sound in the Smallest Space,” off-Broadway. He is currently at work on an interdisciplinary show called “Voice Prosthetic” which explores intimacy and distance in the use of non vocal instruments.

Nate is an enthusiastic advocate for new music: he played sixty performances of Ricky Ian Gordon’s new opera for two pianos, Intimate Apparel, at Lincoln Center Theater, which was later broadcast on PBS Great Performances. He has premiered works for quarter-tone pianos by Dimitri Tymoczko at Princeton, made first recordings of chamber works by Tobias Picker for Tzadik, and performed works written for him by Molly Joyce, Shawn Jaeger, Matthew Ricketts, and Nate Wooley.

A consummate collaborator, he has been praised for his “stormy lyricism” (The New York Times) as well as his “poise and elegance” (Feast of Music). Nate and partner baritone Gregory Feldmann made their sold-out Carnegie Hall debut in February 2020. Nate also frequently partners with vocalist Lucy Dhegrae; they have performed together in the candlelit crypt of the Church of the Intercession, as part of the Resonant Bodies Festival, and at the American Music Festival (Albany Symphony). He’s also appeared in song partnerships at the Musée d’Orsay, Wigmore Hall, Royaumont Abbey, Brooklyn Art Song Society, and New York Festival of Song, where he curates their annual new music series, NYFOS Next. Nate’s NYC credits include Alice Tully Hall, MoMA, and (le) Poisson Rouge.

A graduate of the Juilliard School and a former fellow at Tanglewood, Nate continues his studies with Robert Durso, Senior Director and Expert Taubman Teacher. He has taught at festivals in Germany, Switzerland, Italy, and France, and teaches the Taubman Approach in his private studio in Manhattan. Nathaniel-LaNasa.com