Nina Ryser was born and raised in Brooklyn, NY, and has been based in Philadelphia, PA since 2015. Her interest in songwriting and DIY home recording started when she was 6 years old with piano lessons and a Fisher Price tape recorder, and led to her path in contemporary classical composition for a variety of instruments and ensembles, including the American Symphony Orchestra, which performed her 10-minute score Body of the Bay at Bard College’s Fisher Center in 2015.
Nina received her BA in Music Composition at Bard College where she studied contemporary-classical composition and electronic music. She also spent a lot of time in the film building, where she discovered her love for green screen animation and editing. Nina has engineered, produced and mixed albums for several bands in her home recording studio, including Old Maybe, B.O. Zeta, and Wilt as well as her past six solo albums in which she recorded and performed all the instruments herself. She has played in many bands over the years, including Palberta, Shimmer, Data, and Fire Roast, among countless others – as well as performed in the projects of Kristine Leschper, Lily Konigsberg, and @. Palberta, an art-punk/pop trio of 10 years, released 8 full-length records and several EPs which have received reviews by the New York Times, NPR Music, Rollingstone, Vice and Pitchfork; they have toured prolifically across the US, Canada, and Mexico, and opened for Bikini Kill and Deerhoof.
Nina's solo experimental-pop project consists of lush synth compositions, vocals and electronics, and has featured a rotating cast of different instrumentalists throughout its existence. She has toured with her solo project throughout the US, and has opened for Kikagaku Moyo and The Space Lady. Her latest album, Paths of Color, is her sixth solo album: “In line with her past few releases, Paths of Color is characteristic Nina Ryser: dreamy, wonky, synth-based art-pop that’s bubbly, edgy, sweet, and dark all at once; with elements of post-punk, art rock, and free jazz. But on Paths, Ryser has honed her home recording and mixing skills and refined her home studio set-up, making it her most polished-sounding work yet. But she’s maintained that homemade vibe, as well as the freedom of childhood expression that is so crucial to her sound. Her background in contemporary classical music serves to hold it all together in a taut, designful balance.” (Leah Mandel, Cowgirl Records.) As a teacher, Nina has worked with children ages 2-13, ranging from private lessons and group classes in drums, piano and songwriting, to workshops on building sound sculpture and contact microphones.
Nina is currently working on her seventh full-length solo album, as well as a synth-based film score for her friend's feature length sci-fi film, to be released in 2024. She will be the synth player in an upcoming modern opera, to be performed at the Wilma Theater in Philadelphia in June 2024.
