“Mr. Kaminski has a talent for catchy melodies and wry, self-deprecating lyrics that have the elegance of Bock & Harnick combined with the bawdiness of William Finn. [...] It is well worth your time to check out this exciting new writing voice before you have to pay Broadway prices.”
Currently Music Supervisor at Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts, Nicholas Kaminski is a composer/lyricist, actor and musician originally from New Jersey, specializing in piano, voice, and conducting.
Nicholas likes to joke that he is “Broadway’s Last Resort,” a nod to his frequent status as a last-minute replacement due to his sightreading skill. This was the case at his first professional contract, working as Assistant Music Director at Surflight Theatre in Beach Haven, NJ. Similarly, Nicholas was called at 6am to join the national tour of Cabaret by noon that day, where he took on the AMD/Accordion chair mid-rehearsal process. Throughout his career, adaptability and reliability have been standout qualities in Nicholas’ work.
Nicholas made his Off-Broadway debut as Music Director of Khan!!!! The Musical.
He is a proud member of Actor’s Equity Association, Local 802, and The Dramatist’s Guild.
Nicholas is the composer, lyricist, and book writer of his completely original musical, Starborn: A Disco Odyssey, which received a staged reading and cast recording at Surflight Theatre in 2018 and was performed at 54 Below in March 2020. Nicholas is also co-composer/lyricist with his father, Stephen Kaminski, for Big Famous, a musical about the true exploits of Polka King Jan Lewan. He has also composed music for animated shorts, cabaret pieces, musical theatre shorts, and standalone albums.
Favorite credits: Music Direction: Cabaret (National Tour, AMD/Accordion/Synth), Bright Star (Surflight Theatre, MD/Piano/Accordion), The Rocky Horror Show (Ten separate productions, MD/”Narrator”/”Dr. Scott” variously); Acting: Souvenir (Surflight Theatre, “Cosme McMoon”), House Hunters (HGTV, “Himself”), Paradise Lost: Shadows and Wings (Carnegie Hall, Ensemble).
Nicholas holds his Bachelors of Arts in Music from Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University. He is a private student of Mark Hollmann (Urinetown).
Nicholas is also a music educator, currently working as an educator at LaGuardia High School of the Arts in NYC and having served as the Upper School Choir Director and Music Teacher for Golda Och Academy from 2014-2017 and as Drama and Music Director for Edison High School from 2008-2013.