Nicholas Tzavaras, cello

A Native of Spanish Harlem in New York City, cellist Nicholas Tzavaras has quickly become an internationally sought after chamber musician and educator across three continents. A recent review in the New York Times called his sound "richly singing.” Summer engagements have included the Santa Fe, La Jolla, Greenwood, and Taos Festivals, Radio France Festival in Montpellier, and the Marlboro Festival, among others. Mr.Tzavaras has toured with multiple artists including the "Musicians from Marlboro" and the pop sensation Madonna, appearing on MTV, VH1, the David Letterman Show and at the White House for President Clinton. He has recorded for the Delos, Bis, Camerata, and New Albion labels. Since 2000, Mr.Tzavaras has been the cellist of the internationally renowned Shanghai Quartet

Formerly a faculty member at the University of Richmond, Mr. Tzavaras is currently the coordinator of the String Department and Cello Professor of the John J. Cali School of Music at Montclair State University in New Jersey. In addition, he is a guest professor at the Shanghai and Central Conservatories in China. Mr. Tzavaras has degrees from the New England Conservatory and State University of New York at Stonybrook where his teachers were Laurence Lesser and Timothy Eddy. During his graduate studies he began a cello program for the Opus 118 Music Center in East Harlem of which he is now an advisory board member. Mr. Tzavaras' family can be seen in the Academy Award nominated documentary "Small Wonders," the motion picture "Music of the Heart" starring Meryl Streep and with the Shanghai Quartet in Woody Allen's "Melinda Melinda."