Described by the New York Times as an "able and persuasive advocate" of new music, pianist Nicholas Phillips is Assistant Professor of Music at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire. He is an active soloist, having played across the United States. He has also given a solo recitals in Korea (sponsored by the U.S. Embassy), Buenos Aires, Argentina, and at the Croatian Embassy in Washington, D.C. In 2011, Phillips released two CDs on Albany Records: Portals and Passages (TROY 1246), which features the works for solo piano by American composer Ethan Wickman, and Boris Papandopulo: Piano Music (TROY 1274), which features music by the famous Croatian composer. His most recent CD, American Vernacular: New Music for Solo Piano, features works he commissioned from ten American composers. Phillips has given performances and lecture-recitals at international conferences in Argentina, Croatia, England, and Korea, and his pedagogic-themed lecture-recitals and presentations have been popular at the Wisconsin Music Teachers Association state conferences, where he is a frequent guest. A native of Indiana, Phillips began formal piano lessons at Indiana University at the age of ten. He holds degrees in piano performance from the University of Missouri-Kansas City Conservatory of Music (Doctor of Musical Arts), Indiana University (Master of Music), and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (Bachelor of Music, summa cum laude). His teachers include internationally-renowned pianists and pedagogues Karen Taylor, Paul Barnes, Karen Shaw, and Robert Weirich.