Dr. Nicholas Reeves

Assistant Professor of Liturgical Music

Dr. Reeves is currently the Assistant Professor of Liturgical Music at St. Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary for the 2011–2012 academic year. He has produced concerts both privately and in conjunction with St. Vladimir’s on themes ranging from the oppression of Orthodox composers during the Soviet era to the St. Matthew Passion of Metropolitan Hilarion (Alfeyev). Since 2003, Dr. Reeves had been Director of Music at Holy Trinity Orthodox Church in East Meadow, New York, in addition to maintaining a private voice, composition, and conducting studio. He has studied at the Brevard Music Center and holds degrees in composition from Westminster Choir College and Manhattan School of Music, where he received a doctorate (DMA) in classical composition as a student of Richard Danielpour.  

As a composer Dr. Reeves brings together classical, sacred, and popular influences in well-crafted music that is gaining attention in New York City and beyond. His work has been performed by The Canticum Novum Singers under the direction of Harold Rosenbaum, the Winds of Laesø Art Festival in Denmark, and in a masterclass with Pierre Boulez during the IRCAM residency at the Manhattan School of Music. Dr. Reeves was recently named the 2010 winner of the New York Virtuoso Singer Competition for his composition In Memoriam Dmitri Shostakovich. In September of the same year, his much anticipated first opera, Vicious, was workshopped at the Oslo Opera Festival.

In February 2009, Reeves's work was featured in a four-day concert engagement, The Four Stop Tour. This versatile series of performances in Manhattan encompassed four aspects of American musical culture: film, theater, sacred hymns, and concert works. His music was heard at The Riverside Church, The 45th Street Theater, and Merkin Hall. Of special interest was an historic performance of selections from Rachmaninoff's All Night Vigil, in which the Vespers portion was sung as an actual Orthodox Service with Propers composed by Dr. Reeves. The first stop of the tour encompassed his multifaceted artistry in which the Oscar-winning film No Country for Old Men, famous for having a minimal musical score, was viewed with a live orchestra performing his compositions to accompany the film. 

Education: 
  • B.M. Westminster Choir College (2003)
  • M.M. Manhattan School of Music (2005)
  • D.M.A. Manhattan School of Music (2011)
Teaching Experience: 
  • Adjunct Professor, Rider University (2010–2011)
  • Teaching Assistant, Manhattan School of Music (2006–2007)
Church & Professional Activities: 
  • Project Coordinator, St. Matthew Passion by Metropolitan Hilarion Alfeyev (2011)
  • Producer, Deliverance Through Devotion: The Triumph of Orthodox Music Over Oppression (2010)
  • Artistic Director, In Lumine, Part of the Orthodox Christian Music Project (2009)
  • Director of Music, Holy Trinity Orthodox Church, East Meadow, N.Y. (2003–present)
  • Director of Music, Mother of God, Joy of All Who Sorrow Orthodox Church, Princeton, N.J. (2003)
Other Work Experience: 

Participant, Olso Opera Festival (2010)