Nash Ryder

Dr. Nash Ryder began playing violin at the age of seven and went on to study with world-renowned artists and pedagogues Donald Weilerstein, Ronald Copes, Frank Huang, and Robin Scott. He earned his B.M. and M.M. in violin performance from the Juilliard School and was the first student in the institution’s history to receive both undergraduate honors and an accelerated graduate degree. He later received his Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the Eastman School of Music.

Featured on the highly acclaimed NPR radio show ‘From the Top’ in his youth, Nash has since performed in a wide variety of venues internationally and nationally.

He has been a featured soloist with the Bangor Symphony Orchestra, Ars Flores Symphony Orchestra, the Dubuque Symphony, the New England String Ensemble, White Mountain Bach Festival Orchestra, the Frost Symphony Orchestra, and the Colorado College SMF Orchestra.

Nash has shared the stage with artists such as Josh Groban, Linda Eder, Joshua Bell, Itzhak Perlman, Zuill Bailey, Michelle Cann and Yo-Yo Ma, among many others. 

He is currently assistant professor of instruction in violin at the University of Northern Iowa and the concertmaster of the Dubuque Symphony Orchestra. Former rotating concertmaster and teaching artist of the New World Symphony, Dr. Ryder has also performed with frequently with Florida Orchestra, the Portland Symphony Orchestra, and Orchestra Iowa. He is a faculty member of Rocky Ridge Music in Colorado. Dr. Ryder will release an album of French works for unaccompanied violin through Centaur Records in 2025.