Praised for her "luscious, full sound" (American Record Guide) and "effortless precision" (Flutist Quarterly), Nicole Riner maintains an active national presence as a recitalist and pedagogue. She has presented masterclasses at universities and conservatories across the country and has performed as a guest artist at summer festivals, chamber music series, and flute fairs in the United States and Europe. A champion of contemporary music, Nicole has also collaborated with Pulitzer Prize winning composer Jennifer Higdon and has given premieres of new works by numerous composers, including Richard Faith, Dave Deason, Jason Barabba, and Randall Shinn. Recent solo performances include the National Flute Association Conventions in Albuquerque and Charlotte and New Frontiers Contemporary Music Festival. Her chamber group, Verismo Trio (flute, saxes, piano) are members of the Wyoming Arts Council Roster and frequently collaborate with contemporary composers. Dave Deason's Six New Diversions for Soprano Saxophone and Flute was dedicated to the group.
Nicole currently teaches at University of Wyoming, where she is guest artist faculty in flute and founder/ director of the Summit Flute Institute. Prior appointments include the nationally recognized Interlochen Arts Camp, Michigan State University, University of Northern Colorado, and Indiana University-Purdue University. She has also held positions with Wyoming Symphony and Humbach Theatrehoff Orchestra.
Much in demand as a clinician and lecturer, Nicole's dissertation, The Girls in the Band: Women's Perspectives on Gender Stereotyping in the Music Classroom, has been presented at national conferences in Colorado, Wyoming, and Hawaii and published in the online magazine GEMS (Gender, Education, and Music Studies). Her pedagogical writings have been published in Colorado Flutist, International Tuba-Euphonium Association Journal, Flute Talk, and the National Flute Association's Pedagogy Anthology, Volume II. She is also a regular reviewer for Flutist Quarterly, the publication of the National Flute Association.
Nicole received the Doctor of Music in flute performance and literature from Indiana University. She can be heard on recordings with Wyoming Symphony and Mahler Fest, and her live performances have been broadcast on Interlochen (MI) Public Radio, Minnesota Public Radio, and Colorado Public Radio, where she had a recurring role in the short-lived series,Telling Stories, as both a perfomer and a writer. Her first solo CD, Eastern Gems, was released by Centaur Records in July 2010. Nicole also freelances as a food writer and restaurant reviewer; her blog, Drink Food Travel, chronicles her performance-related travel and dining experiences as well as her original recipes. Some of those travel-related essays have been published into a book, Driving a Rental Car in Heels, available from Create Space publishers.