University of Cincinnati Welcomes Grammy Winning Cellist as CCM Professor

Nick Photinos, a College Conservatory of Music (CCM) alumnus and a four-time Grammy award winning cellist will start his journey of teaching this fall as a CCM Professor of Chamber Music and an Eminent Scholar at the University of Cincinnati (UC).

Ohio Eminent Scholars are state funded positions at a university that attract individuals outside of Ohio according to Photinos.The purpose of an Eminent Scholar is to draw in individuals who have a wide array of experiences.

A few of Photinos’ experiences include performing across the world in the Sydney Opera House, KBC Hall in Seoul and Carnegie Hall in New York City.

“Originally when they selected CCM to have the eminent scholar position they chose chamber music because of its cross disciplinary potential to bring a lot of different [and] wide variety of disciplines together,” Photinos said.

Prior to becoming an Eminent Scholar and professor this fall, according to Photinos he acquired a variety of skills as a cellist in Eighth Black Bird, a chamber music group he started with five of his friends from Oberlin Conservatory where he studied for undergrad.

However, after Photinos and his friends formed Eighth Black Bird, it wasn’t until they furthered their educational journey at CCM where they truly became professionals, Photinos explained.

According to Photinos his career of nearly 24 years with Eighth Black Bird was primarily performing and teaching, but also consisted of bookkeeping, writing grants and a variety of other responsibilities.

As a new addition to UC faculty and former CCM alumnus, Photinos wants to pass on his knowledge to the next generation of students.

From playing in innovative ways to his insight on entrepreneurship through the eyes of a musician, he is passionate about helping his students grow.

Regarding his position of being a professor at CCM, Photinos explained that being an educator is a wonderful opportunity to give back especially at a place that was formative to his career.

“It seemed like it was a good fit in terms of what I wanted to try to give back to students and what they were looking for. Like new ways of doing things and someone to kind of revitalize the chamber music program,” he said.

With decades of experience in the music industry, Photinos’ passion for music stems from his mother.

Throughout his childhood his mother was an avid amateur musician who played a variety of instruments such as viola, French horn, organ and recorder.

“Even from a young age I really wanted to do music and it was always something that we did together which was really important,” he said.

Having the opportunity to play music with other musicians has always been meaningful to Photinos for as long as he can remember.

“She was the one that really instilled in me a love of playing with other people,” Photinos said while referring to his mom.

As a performer and an educator Photinos hopes to share his joy and love for music in addition to helping students realize their potential to share their own joy in music he explained.