About
About me.
Dr. Nathan Groot is a violist and a music instructor at the Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences, and the Arts. He earned his DMA from the University of Georgia where he studied viola with Professor Maggie Snyder. His dissertation is titled “A New Graded Repertoire: A Pedagogical Analysis of Works for Viola by Underrepresented Composers.” Nathan also earned a master’s degree in viola performance from Miami University where he studied with Professor Mary Harris, and a bachelor’s degree in viola performance and pedagogy from Tennessee Tech University where he studied with Professor Idalynn Besser.
Nathan has experience as an orchestral, chamber, and solo performer. He especially enjoys working with composers as a soloist. In 2018, he was invited by composer Yovcho Krushev to perform as a guest soloist with the Sofia Sinfonietta for the Sofia Music Weeks Summer Festival in Sofia, Bulgaria. In 2021, he also performed the world premiere of Emily Singleton’s In Our Walk (VIOLA2020 honorable mention). In 2022, Nathan recorded an album of works for viola by underrepresented composers. Of the seven works on the album, six were by living composers. Of those six, three were premieres that required extensive collaboration with the composers. Nathan has also performed in Bad Leonfelden, Austria and in four masterclasses with Professor Thomas Riebl.
Nathan has also performed frequently as a chamber musician. While at the University of Georgia, he coordinated and performed in the University of Georgia Viola Ensemble which won an invitation to perform Kelly Catlin’s Presence at the American Viola Society Festival Ensemble Invitational Competition.
As an orchestral violist, he has performed as substitute principal violist for the Bryan Symphony Orchestra and the Rome Symphony Orchestra. He also performed frequently as a section violist with the Bryan Symphony Orchestra and the Oak Ridge Symphony Orchestra between 2015 and 2022. Nathan has also performed in various studio recordings, notably one with Kishi Bashi for the sequel to Athens Inside/Out.
Nathan is also very passionate about teaching privately and coaching chamber music. He has a large and vibrant private studio made up of violists and violinists of all ages (both in-person and virtual), has served as viola faculty and chamber coach at the Tennessee Tech Summer Music Institute for three summers, and worked as the director of the New Horizons String Ensemble in Athens, GA from 2019-2022. At the Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences, and the Arts, he directs the string ensemble, teaches applied strings lessons, coaches chamber groups, and teaches a variety of university-level music courses.
As a researcher, Nathan is especially concerned with lack of access and inequalities in art music and music education. In 2020, he joined the nonprofit, Lift Music Fund, as a member of its Founding Team.
Luck & Generosity.
In 2003, my twin sister and I started music lessons; she played violin and I played viola. We loved it! Unfortunately, after a few years, my parents could no longer afford to pay for our private lessons. A member of the local community and retired violinist, Bill Pinkerton, heard about our situation and reached out to us. He offered to give us lessons for free and became our mentor. We spent hours at his house playing and studying music every Sunday afternoon. We also spent plenty of time eating his delicious home-cooked food, exploring his magical garden, and enjoying stories about the music world of the 60s and 70s. Bill taught us for years for free and never accepted payment, even when it became possible. He is the reason I continued playing the viola and was able to audition for a music program at my local university. I received full financial aid after my audition. If Bill hadn’t helped me all those years with the viola, I probably wouldn’t have had the opportunity to go to college.
This kind of luck is rare. So many promising young musicians of low-socioeconomic status never get the chances and lucky breaks that I got. That’s why I believe that music education should be made more accessible. You can read more about the systemic SES-related problems in education and music on my blog. You can also donate to a great cause at Lift Music Fund.
What I’m up to now
I currently live in Hot Springs, AR with my wife Rebecca, son Henry, and scruffy rescue dog Rory.