Hailed by violinist James Ehnes as “mesmerizing,” Dr. Nash Ryder began playing violin at the age of seven.  He went on to study with world-renowned artists and pedagogues Donald Weilerstein, Anait Arutunian, Ronald Copes, Frank Huang, Scott Flavin, Jan Mark Sloman and Robin Scott.

He earned his B.M. and M.M. in violin performance from the Juilliard School and was the first student in the institution’s history to receive both undergraduate honors and an accelerated graduate degree.  He later received his Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the Eastman School of Music. 

Featured on the highly acclaimed NPR radio show ‘From the Top’ in his youth, Nash has since performed in a wide variety of venues internationally and nationally, performing in festivals such as the Conservatoire Américain de Fontainebleau in France, the Lake District Music Festival in England, the Sarasota Music Festival, the Bowdoin International Music Festival, Meadowmount School of Music and the Colorado College Summer Music Festival. 

​He has been a featured soloist with the Bangor Symphony Orchestra, Ars Flores Symphony Orchestra, the New England String Ensemble, White Mountain Bach Festival Orchestra, the Frost Symphony Orchestra, I Solisti di Miami, and the Colorado College SMF Orchestra.   

Nash has shared the stage with artists such as Josh Groban, Linda Eder, Joshua Bell, Itzhak Perlman, Joseph Silverstein, Ilya Kaler, Jeffrey Zeigler, and members of the Ying Quartet, among other artists. He has played under the batons of conductors Gerard Schwarz, Jeanette Sorrell, Gemma New, Michael Tilson Thomas, Joseph Colaneri, Pablo Heras-Casado, Alan Gilbert, Gianandrea Noseda, Thomas Adès, David Robertson, Matthias Pintscher, Jeffery Kahane and Scott Yoo.

Additionally, he has worked closely with composers Michael Finnissy and Peter Maxwell-Davies on several of their pieces. His audiences have included Former President George H.W. Bush, Boston Mayor Thomas Menino, and Senator Susan Collins. 

 Dedicated to igniting positive social change through music, Nash co-leads a concert series
each year in the Turks and Caicos Islands, bringing musicians and ensembles from around
the world to perform in the Caribbean. The concerts support Ashley’s Learning Center, an
independent therapy and education center for children with intellectual and
developmental disabilities.
Former rotating concertmaster and teaching artist of the New World Symphony, Dr. Ryder is currently assistant professor of instruction in violin at the University of Northern Iowa and the concertmaster of the Dubuque Symphony Orchestra. He has also regularly performed with the Florida Orchestra, the Portland Symphony Orchestra, the Venice Symphony, Waterloo-Cedar Falls Symphony and Orchestra Iowa.  In 2024, Dr. Ryder formed the Mesa Duo with internationally-renowned pianist Sean Botkin.  He is also a faculty member at NEMC at the Snow Pond Center for the Arts and SummerKeys, both in Maine. Dr. Ryder will release an album of French works for unaccompanied violin in 2024.