Nicholas Ritter

Virginia native Nick Ritter joined the Charlotte Symphony as bassoonist and contrabassoonist in 2023. He has also performed with orchestras including the Chicago Symphony, National Symphony, Atlanta Symphony, Pittsburgh Symphony, Nashville Symphony, and Lyric Opera of Chicago. During the summer season, Ritter has performed with the Santa Fe Opera and the Peninsula Music Festival.  
 
Ritter is a passionate educator, serving as the bassoon professor at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. He also teaches for the North Carolina Youth Orchestra, leading their beginning classes for oboe and saxophone, in addition to conducting the Junior Wind Ensemble. Ritter maintains a private studio of bassoon students and has previously held teaching positions at Northwestern University, Northern Illinois University, and The People's School of Music in Chicago.  
 
Ritter attended Northwestern University and DePaul University, earning degrees in music theory and bassoon performance. He studied with Christopher Millard, Lewis Kirk, David McGill, Bill Buchman, and Miles Maner, in addition to Nancy Goeres and Per Hannevold at the Aspen Music Festival.  

What would you be doing if you weren’t a professional musician? 

If I weren’t a professional musician, I would probably be a librarian. I worked in a library handling old and rare materials for a few summers, and it was really interesting! 

What’s something people might be surprised to learn about you? 

Away from work, I love to explore new places. I spend as much time as I can out hiking in the mountains, and try to go backpacking for a few weeks each year. I am really looking forward to continuing my section hikes of the Appalachian Trail now that I’m back on the East Coast.