Biography

Works by Nikolas Allen Jeleniauskas | jɛ lə ˈnɑʊ skɑs | (b.1982) have been described as “exciting and colorful”, combining the dramatic and lyrical into “surprising colors and textures”. They have been performed throughout the United States by ensembles such as North/South Consonance, members of the Kuttner Quartet (Indiana University), the Syracuse Society for New Music, and the Third String Contemporary Music Ensemble as well as Syracuse Symphony Orchestra musicians, Vladimir Pritsker, John Friedrichs, and Sar-Shalom Strong.

Nikolas has been commissioned by the Indiana University Ballet Department as well as Neva Pilgrim and the Syracuse Society for New Music, received awards from Austin Peay State University, and ASCAP, participated in the Buffalo Philharmonic’s Young Composers Forum, and his music has been read by the Indiana University New Music Ensemble and University Orchestra, Cassatt String Quartet, and the Syracuse University Symphony Orchestra. His music has also been broadcast on WCNY Classic FM’s Fresh Ink program.

Nikolas received his Masters degree in composition from Indiana University, and his Bachelor’s in composition from Syracuse University. His principal composition teachers have included Claude Baker, David Dzubay, Daniel S. Godfrey, and Liu Zhuang, having also worked with Joseph Schwantner, Stephen Paulus, and Augusta Read Thomas as a conductor and composer.

Nikolas has performed as a guest conductor for Syracuse University recitals and the Third String Contemporary Music Ensemble. He has been a rehearsal conductor for Syracuse University Opera Theater with Eric Johnson, and has also conducted the New Symphony Orchestra of Bulgaria. His mentors have included Carl St. Clair, Gustav Meier, Rossen Milanov, and Benjamin Loeb. Nikolas has also participated in the International Conducting Workshop and Festival (ICWF) and the Conductors Institute at Bard College.

As a dancer, Nikolas has performed throughout New York as a guest artist with the Mohawk Valley Ballet, the Munson Williams Proctor Arts Institute School of Dance, the Ellen Sinopoli Dance Company, and the Ajkun Ballet Theatre. Nikolas has also performed with the Indiana University Ballet Theater as a guest dancer from 2006- 2009. Some of his credits include Don Quixote, Romeo and Juliet, The Nutcracker, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Coppélia, and Cinderella.

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