Nick Dinnerstein’s Sonatina for Cello and Piano is a classical sonata, reimagined through a contemporary lens — harmonically wide-ranging and driven by a propulsive rhythmic energy. The Sonatina‘s three movements move from manic to cathartic to theatrical: the Vivace bright and shape-shifting, the Lament, with its crying melody soaring above an unrelenting bassline, and the Rondo, which wanders between nostalgia and fantasy.

The Sonatina received its premier at The Lilypad in Cambridge, MA in 2025.

Philip Glass’ Etudes for piano are built from undulating patterns and sweeping melodic gestures, generating motion at once hypnotic and deeply human. Heard here as a sequence — Nos. 11, 2, and 6 — the pieces form an arc from intensity to introspection to exuberance.

Inspired by a Russian fairy tale of a prince cursed to the underworld and the love that saves him, Leoš Janáček’s Pohádka for cello and piano unfolds through romantic lyricism shaped by pattern, evoking dream, longing, and tenderness.

Nick Dinnerstein’s Puppet Music is written for cello and live loop pedal. The piece emerges from layered loops and transforming textures to create a strange, theatrical atmosphere — eerie, lyrical, and poignant.

The work was commissioned by New York City musical salon Art Bath. It received its premier in 2023 in collaboration with renowned puppeteer James Godwin.

Nick Dinnerstein is a Brooklyn-based cellist/composer whose work draws on neo-classical, minimalist, serial, and popular idioms to create vivid, emotionally direct narratives.

He composes and performs works for cello and cello/loop pedal, as well as chamber music for a range ensembles. Nick’s performances include solo premieres at the Thailand International Music Festival and appearances at the Greensboro Music Festival and the Art Complex Museum. His collaborations span contemporary classical and popular music, including an appearance on MTV Unplugged.

Nick studied cello with George Neikrug and composition with John Howell Morrison, and holds a B.M. in Cello Performance from Mannes School of Music.

Paul Jacobs is a Boston-based pianist whose repertoire ranges from Ives and Ligeti to Philip Glass, with a particular affinity for twentieth-century and contemporary works.

He has performed as soloist and chamber musician at venues including Bruno Walter Auditorium at Lincoln Center, and has collaborated with composers Allen Anderson, Yehudi Wyner, and others active in the American new music scene.

His chamber work includes residencies at the Warebrook Contemporary Music Festival in Vermont and the White Lake Chamber Music Festival.

A champion of living composers, he was featured in a Boston Globe article on the music of Philip Glass and has recorded on the Navona label. He is a member of the Thoreau Piano Trio and is a dedicated teacher.