Nina Bernat

Nina Bernat, double bass (Iowa City, IA), began studying music at the age of five with piano lessons. She started playing bass when she was seven, under the instruction of her father, Mark Bernat, former member of the Israel Philharmonic. She is the winner of the 2014 Fort Dodge Young Artist Competition, finalist in the 2015 NSO Summer Music Institute Concerto Competition, and third prize winner in the 2014 Waterloo-Cedar Falls Young Artists Concerto Competition. During the summers, Nina has been invited to participate in the National Symphony Orchestra Summer Music Institute, Brevard Music Center, and Interlochen Music Festival. Most recently, in the summer of 2016, she participated in the National Youth Orchestra of the United States of America, where she played in a masterclass with Alex Hanna and performed under the baton of Christoph Eschenbach and Valery Gergiev. She has performed in concert halls such as Carnegie Hall, the Royal Concertgebouw, and Kennedy Center. In the Winter of 2016, she participated in the New York String Orchestra Seminar. There, she worked with artists such as Jaime Laredo and Eugene Drucker. Her bass section was coached by Peter Lloyd and Kurt Muroki. Next year, Nina will be attending the Juilliard School as a Kovner Fellow.