Nathan May

Nathan May grew up in rural Idaho swimming in irrigation canals, riding horses, hiking and fishing in the mountains, and making music with his family. His mother and father, who met while attending the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music, provided music lessons and instruments, and often played together as a family.

 

Nathan began his musical education learning guitar from his father, violin from his sister, and piano from his mother. Eventually, his middle school orchestra teacher asked him if he would like to switch to playing the double bass. He accepted and discovered a great love for the instrument. He began taking lessons with Dr. Aaron Miller at Brigham Young University - Idaho and quickly progressed. Following a two-year mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, he completed his bachelor's in double bass performance at BYUI.

 

During the summer before his senior year, he attended the Domaine Forget Music Festival in Quebec, Canada. There he studied with bass luminaries such as Francois Rabbath, Paul Ellison, and Scott Dixon. It was there that his musical direction changed forever. Later that year he auditioned for the Cleveland Institute of Music and was accepted. In his last two years at BYU-I he studied composition with Dr. Sue Niemoyer.

 

At CIM he was able to take composition classes with award-winning composer Keith Fitch. He studied double bass from Scott Dixon at CIM, bassist with the Cleveland Orchestra. Following his master's degree, he began teaching music for middle school students in Idaho.

 

He teaches music theory and music history, exposing them to the music of everyone from Monteverdi to Mozart to Metallica. He has a family of four and loves spending time hiking, canoeing, and camping in Idaho.