NINA BERNAT
double bass
American double bassist Nina Bernat, praised for her refined artistry, expressive depth, and technical clarity, has established herself as one of the leading advocates for her instrument on today's concert stage. Hailed by the Star Tribune as "exhilarating, lovely and lyrical," Nina is the recipient of a 2023 Avery Fisher Career Grant, First Prize in the 2023 Concert Artists Guild Elmaleh Competition, and the only bassist to have won the Barbash J.S. Bach String Competition.
Recent highlights include recital debuts at Carnegie Hall's Weill Recital Hall and Merkin Hall, performances at Davies Symphony Hall and Alice Tully Hall, and solo appearances with the Minnesota Orchestra, Brooklyn Symphony Orchestra, and Long Island Symphony. A member of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center's Bowers Program, Nina has appeared at leading festivals including Marlboro Music, Music@Menlo, Chamber Music Northwest, Tippet Rise, and Bridgehampton Chamber Music Festival. Her debut album, Crossroads, will be released in fall 2026, and she serves on the faculty of Stony Brook University while continuing to expand the double bass repertoire through commissions, transcriptions, and her duo, Basso Vox.
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Basso Vox is a boundary-pushing duo that reimagines the roles and expressive possibilities of the double bass and bassoon in chamber music. Comprising two trailblazing soloists—double bassist Nina Bernat and bassoonist Eleni Katz—the duo brings a distinctly vocal approach to their transcriptions and original repertoire, highlighting the often-overlooked singing qualities of their instruments. In Latin, Basso Vox translates to “Bass Voice.”
Recent and upcoming performance highlights include appearances at Tippet Rise, Charlottesville Chamber Music Festival, Artist Series Concerts of Sarasota, Concerts by the Pond, Music at Evergreen, and the Rites of Spring Music Festival. Both originally from Iowa City, IA, Eleni and Nina began collaborating after individually winning the Concert Artists Guild Victor Elmaleh Competition and subsequently joining the prestigious CAG roster.