Nick Ziobro Has A Lot of Livin' to Do

Wearing a Rider T-shirt and munching on chicken nuggets and fries, Nick Ziobro looks like a typical freshman about to finish his first year at college.  But this personable and talented Musical Theatre major is anything but typical.

Winner of the 2012 Michael Feinstein Great American Songbook competition, Ziobro’s been performing with Feinstein in New York and Las Vegas for the past three years.  The New York Times wrote about his performance with Feinstein at Loews Regency in New York City, “the big surprise was the appearance of a fresh-faced 16-year-old crooner, Nick Ziobro. He delivered All of Me, the 1931 jazz standard by Gerald Marks and Seymour Simons, with an easy swinging confidence and charm that suggested he could evolve into another Michael Bublé, who recorded the song several years ago.”

Feinstein also produced Ziobro’s first recording, A Lot of Livin’ to Do.  To celebrate the CD release, they performed together at Birdland, the legendary jazz club in New York.

From the Syracuse area, Ziobro has been performing since he was in fourth grade.  His piano teacher introduced him to Feinstein and the music of the Great American Songbook, also known as American standards.  After going to a Feinstein concert when he was in 9th grade, Ziobro thought “It would be really cool to perform with him some day.” 

The next year, he took a chance and submitted a recording to apply for the American Songbook Academy, a highly competitive program founded by Feinstein that offers high school singers the opportunity to work with music industry professionals and focus on the Great American Songbook.

Not only was he accepted into the program, he won the highly coveted opportunity to be the Songbook Youth Ambassador and realized his dream to perform with Feinstein.

“Nick Ziobro is the kind of talent that comes along once in a lifetime and I think everyone felt that,” Feinstein has said about him. “He has an indefinable ability to touch the heart. To see a young man with such connection to the music and a voice that is so beautiful is inspiring, and I think he has a great career ahead of him.” 

Reflecting on his decision to go to college after achieving success at such an early age, Ziobro says, “Being a performer is what I’m pretty much destined to do – whether it’s on stage singing with a big band or on Broadway.  I don’t want a big burst of fame.  I want to be known as an artist.  I want to have a career that lasts my whole life.”

He first learned about Rider from Bruce Campbell, a Westminster Choir College graduate who also taught at his high school.  After some online research, he decided to travel to Lawrenceville to audition.  Once he met the faculty and students, he quickly decided that he didn’t want to audition anywhere else.

“I knew it was the right choice,” he says. 

His voice teacher, Mariann Cook, agrees, adding, “Nick is one of the most stylistically intuitive singers it has been my pleasure to train. He has an easy, naturally pleasing vocal quality people love to listen to and he knows how to use it to entertain. He is a real pro at the tender age of 19, and genuinely kind and thoughtful. What a pleasure it is to teach this young man!

“There are so many opportunities here that will help me grow and I’m excited to see where I end up,” Ziobro adds.

Enrolled in the rigorous Baccalaureate Honors Program in addition to his Musical Theatre studies, he says, “I want to be someone who’s interesting to talk to at parties.  Some people come out of very prestigious programs, but that’s all that they know. They’ve not read a novel; they haven’t studied history.  It’s important to be a normal human being sometimes.”

He enjoys the diversity of the program and interacting with students with other majors.   And the proximity to New York City makes it easy to get to his performances.

“I love Rider,” he says with a smile as he walks back to the residence hall to write a final paper before heading out for the summer.

To learn more about Nick Ziobro’s music and performance schedule, check his website: www.nick-ziobro.com.