Nicole Marie P. Cortero is a Filipina Pianist who started playing the piano at the age of seven. She emerged as the Second Prize winner in the 2012 National Music Competition for Young Artists in the Philippines where she also received the “Best Contest Piece Award.” In 2017, she won the Second Prize at the Gray Perry Young Collegiate Piano Competition in Gainesville, Florida, and the Third Prize at the Baltimore International Piano Festival in Maryland. In 2019, she won the Second Prize in the Great Composers Series International Competition for best performance of the works by Ludwig van Beethoven and Frederic Chopin.
She has appeared in numerous concerts in the Philippines and the United States performing in venues such as the Cultural Center of the Philippines, the National Arts Center of the Philippines, Amarnick-Goldstein Concert Hall, Wold Performing Arts Center, and Cherry Logan Emerson Concert Hall. She participated in festivals such as the Piano Teachers Guild of the Philippines Annual Festivals, Paulinian Music Festival, and PASINAYA Open House Festival. She was an alumna at the Baltimore International Piano Festival in 2017, Brancaleoni International Music Festival in 2021, the Prague Piano Festival in 2022, and the Walled City International Piano Festival in Derry, Northern Ireland in 2023 where she performed in masterclasses and concerts. She has performed in masterclasses with renowned pianists such as Rebecca Penneys, Alexander Shtarkman, Daniel Shapiro, and Kirill Gerstein among others.
Nicole studied with the late Professor Nita Quinto and Professor Carmencita Arambulo while attending the Philippine High School for the Arts as a National Government Scholar. She graduated Magna cum laude from the Lynn University Conservatory of Music with a degree in Bachelor of Music in Piano Performance under the tutelage of Dr. Roberta Rust. She received her Master of Music in Piano Performance at the University of South Florida under the guidance of Dr. Svetozar Ivanov.
Nicole has a strong passion for teaching students of various levels and is committed to educating and inspiring young musicians through her nurturing guidance. She was a faculty at the Maryland Academy of Music, Boynton Beach School of Music, Dance, and Drama, Lynn University Preparatory School of Music, Baltimore School of Music, Tampa Music School, and her Private Piano Studio. She served as a graduate teaching assistant at the University of South Florida School of Music where she taught group piano classes to undergraduate students. At present, Nicole is a freelance musician and holds a private piano studio at the Tampa Bay area.