At only 26 years of age, jazz composer and arranger Nicholas Urie already claims a distinct and mature musical style. His two albums, which have won critical acclaim, utilize text from unusual sources and depict the vagaries of contemporary life.  For his 2009 album, Excerpts From an Online Dating Service, Nicholas creates a song-cycle out of real-life personal ads, highlighting the candid and sometimes forlorn sub-culture of cyberspace. My Garden, which was released earlier this year, sets to music the bold and honest poetry of the late Los Angeles-based poet and novelist, Charles Bukowski.

For his residency at Brooklyn Youth Chorus Academy, Nicholas plans to continue composing to text – exploring the writings of another American poet and author, Robert Creeley and his posthumous work On Earth: Last Poems and an Essay. We are eager to hear the results.