Nate Ben-Horin’s work as a collaborative pianist has taken him across Canada and the US, and as far afield as Ireland and Central America. When not in his adoptive city of Toronto, he can be frequently found playing shows for Opera Columbus, which has invited him back every season since he completed a residency there in 2021-2. Other recent highlights include a three-month tour of British Columbia with the children’s opera The Flight of the Hummingbird (Vancouver Opera/Pacific Opera Victoria), and ongoing music staff positions with both the Sewanee Summer Music Festival and Wexford Festival Opera. He has also worked extensively with the noted indie company West Edge Opera in his native San Francisco Bay Area.

Alongside Wagnerian soprano Jaclyn Grossman, Nate is the co-founder, co-producer, pianist, and composer/arranger of Likht Ensemble, a duo dedicated to the field of Holocaust music. This project has been the recipient of multiple large-scale grants from the Canada Council for the Arts, and has been presented in recital by the Harold Greene Jewish Theatre, Pacific Opera Victoria, the Chattanooga Symphony and Opera, the Canadian Opera Company’s Free Concert Series, and others. Of his work there, reviewer Lynn Slotkin wrote, "Nate Ben Horin is a graceful pianist, a gifted arranger of the music to best serve the song, and an attentive accompanist to soprano Jaclyn Grossman.”

Meet

Nate

An enthusiastic teacher and coach, Nate has held faculty appointments at Capital University and UC Berkeley, and has been on the coaching staff of the young artist programs of the Wexford Factory and Sewanee OperaFest under the direction of renowned voice teacher Laura Brooks Rice. His work with Likht Ensemble has included student workshops on Holocaust music, grant writing, and self-producing at the collegiate level, as well as lecture-recitals for general audiences.

He completed his graduate degree in collaborative piano from McGill University with Michael McMahon and Stephen Hargreaves in 2020. Before falling into the opera world, he studied solo piano with leading American pianist Jeremy Denk, and received an eclectic undergraduate music degree from UC Berkeley. Musically omnivorous and inclined towards project-based creativity and collaboration, some of Nate’s particular interests and specialties include continuo harpsichord, recital work, Schubert, composition, and new/unusual repertoire. In his free time he enjoys encountering animals, walking while listening to audiobooks, and consuming snacks.

Featured Projects

Family Concerts with the CSO

Chattanooga Symphony and Opera

These concerts pair masterworks from the symphonic repertoire with beloved children’s books, performed live by an ensemble of musicians from the Chattanooga Symphony and staged with an interactive puppet show! Every child in attendance also gets to take home the book being performed.

The Shoah Songbook

Likht Ensemble
Harold Green Jewish Theatre Company


A series designed to share music by Jewish artist from the Holocaust who were silenced before their time. The series with Harold Green culminates on January 27, 2024 (click below for tickets/info)

Watch the Shoah Songbook Part Three

Watch the Shoah Songbook Part Two

Recital: Bring Him Home

With tenor Dane Suarez
Opera Delaware

A selection of art song, newly commissioned folk arrangements, opera, and musical theatre on themes of war, personal struggle, and the immortality of the soul. Curated by Suarez, this recital program was originally performed at the Wexford Festival Opera in October 2024, and will receive a second performance with Opera Delaware on March 30th, 2025.

News & Updates