Nina Bernat

Double bassist Nina Bernat, acclaimed for her interpretive maturity, expressive depth, and technical clarity, emerges onto the world stage as a recipient of a 2023 Avery Fisher Career Grant. Recent first prizes include the Barbash J.S. Bach String Competition, the Minnesota Orchestra Young Artist Competition, the Juilliard Double Bass Competition, and the 2019 International Society of Bassists Solo Competition. She was invited in 2019 to perform as guest principal bassist with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, serving under the batons of András Schiff and Osmo Vänskä. Among her chamber performances are appearances with the Jupiter Symphony Chamber Players, Bridgehampton Chamber Music Series, and Mostly Music. This summer, she heads to Vermont for her second season at both the 2023 Marlboro Music Festival and the Lake Champlain Music Festival. She also returns to the 2023 Grace Note Farm Summer Music Festival in Rhode Island for her third season, as both performer and co-organizer. Her 2023–24 season includes a concerto debut with the Minnesota Orchestra and performances as guest principal of the Oslo Philharmonic. In 2024, she begins her tenure as a member of CMS’s Bowers Program. Bernat performs on a beautiful and sonorous early-18th-century bass, attributed to Guadagnini and handed down to her from her father.