Nicole DiPaolo (DM minor) is currently sailing the high seas as the pianist of the Duo del Mare aboard various Holland America cruise ships; nevertheless, she has remained actively involved in her compositional pursuits. Shortly after embarking on a pedagogical composition project for beginning piano students, Nicole was named a Studio Composer-in-Residence at the Joy in Music Piano Studio in Portland, Maine. Her collection of pieces aims to provide first- and second-year students with brief, technically accessible, and engaging repertoire in each of the traditionally “difficult†keys with three or more flats/sharps. Once Nicole completes all 20 projected compositions, she plans to publish the collection online.
Alongside the aforementioned pedagogical project, Nicole has been focusing on music for strings as both a composer and a performer. Her Divertimento for string quartet was successfully premiered in Merida, Mexico this past October by the International String Quartet of Yucatan (for whom the piece was written).