Nicholas Gemas (sounds like jim us) attended Wichita State University on scholarship and earned a B.A. in the sociology field. He later earned an M.A. in sociology and a Master of Music (performance) at Wichita State.
Nicholas has performed on tuba in most of the eastern U.S. and in Mexico, and Germany. He was the substitute tubist for the Wichita Symphony Orchestra (2005-06) and, later, principal tuba of Wichita Grand Opera. He was the original tuba player in the Lexington (Missouri) Wind Symphony.
He performed on tuba and trombone in productions of Annie, Cabaret and other music theatre shows in Connecticut and New York in the mid-2000s.
He has performed on tuba with the rock band Kansas (with the South Kansas Symphony).
In 2018-19, Nicholas performed with the McKinney Community Band and the Metropolitan Winds in Texas. Since 2021, Nicholas makes infrequent appearances with orchestras and bands in the north Texas region.
Nicholas has been a visiting or replacement/substitute conductor for choirs, choruses and instrumental ensembles in Kansas and Missouri.
Nicholas has an academic-musicological interest in the music of Franz Liszt and Gustav Mahler, and has written academic papers analyzing and interpreting the symphonic poems of Liszt.
He studied tuba/music performance with Phillip C. Black of Wichita State University and Adolph S. “Bud” Herseth of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.
