By James Lomuscio
As he heads home from Princeton to celebrate Thanksgiving with his family, Nicholas A. DiBerardino – this week awarded a prestigious Rhodes Scholarship for music composition—says he has nothing but fond memories and appreciation for his hometown.
Nick DiBerardino: seventh grade teacher encouraged him. Princeton University photo
“The main feeling I have now is gratitude,” says DiBerardino, 21, a 2007 Staples High School graduate.
He was among 32 winners selected for the most prestigious academic award available to U.S. college students. Rhodes Scholarships provide all expenses for two or three years of study at the University of Oxford in England. He plans a two-year study leading to a M Phil in Music.
“The biggest thing that I took away from Staples is that I felt really prepared when I got to Princeton,” he said.
DiBerardino, who moved with his family from Cincinnati to Westport 10 years ago, said the road to Oxford began with encouragement from his Bedford Middle School music teacher Steven Baranski.
“I was always writing compositions for myself at the piano, and when I was in the seventh grade he (Baranski) encouraged me to apply for the Connecticut PTA Reflections Competition,” he recalled.
DiBerardino won first place for the state with his composition, “The Final Step.”
“It was nothing too sophisticated,” he chuckled.
In high school, DiBerardino says he focused on academics, “and music was something I did on the side, playing the baritone sax, being in the jazz band, and I sang in the Staples Choir and senior year, the Orphenians.”
He also won plaudits while at Staples, where he was president of the Student Assembly, for working with the Westport Music Center, collecting and refurbishing used musical instruments for underprivileged Bridgeport students.
For that and other work, he was awarded the coveted Faculty Key Award senior year.
“I can’t tell you how supportive this whole community has been for Nick, from Mr. Baranski to Mr. (John) Dodig (Staples principal),” said Kathryn DiBerardino, his mother.
It was not until his sophomore year at Princeton that DiBerardino decided to major in music. There he composed a major piano piece, a string sextet, three pieces for a jazz combo and a work for an a cappella choir.
He composed and conducted a work called “The Ninth Wave,” his first large ensemble piece to premiere on campus. (See video here)
His compositional successes include receiving “Emerging Artist” recognition from the New York Art Ensemble in 2009 and 2010, for his “Harmonia” and “Sparkplug,” respectively.
DiBerardino also received an Honorable Mention in the Eastern Division of the 2008 Music Teachers National Association competition for his “Sextet for Strings,” placed first in the New England Region in the 2008 National Federation of Music Clubs competition for his “Poem for Orchestra,” and was a finalist in the Morton Gould Young Composers Awards for his “Orpheus” in 2005.
When DiBerardino, who applied for the scholarship in the beginning of this school year, learned he was one of 13 finalists, and only two would be chosen for this New England region, his attitude was one of acceptance whatever the outcome.
“Only two are chosen for each district, and with those odds, you can’t expect to be chosen,” he said. “But I just wanted to go in, have fun, be myself and talk about music.”
Throughout Saturday from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., he and the other candidates had to go through seven interviews in Boston.
“It was probing, but it wasn’t mean spirited,” he said. “But, it was tough .They asked what I wanted to do with my life in terms of making an impact on the world with music, how I was going to change the world.”
The Rhodes Scholarship interviews were less than a week after DiBerardino learned that he had won a Marshall Scholarship, which would have funded two years of study at the Royal College of Music in London.
Because the Rhodes Trust mandates that recipients accept the scholarship, he had to turn down the Marshall Scholarship.
This year, 837 candidates were endorsed by 309 institutions to compete for one of 32 Rhodes scholarships, which are administered and awarded by the Rhodes Trust. The trust was established in 1902 under the terms and conditions of the will of Cecil John Rhodes, and funded by his estate.
“We are overjoyed by the news, and I don’t think its sunk in yet,” said his mother. “As a mom, I always taught him that good things happen to good people, and that what’s really important is his character. We never pushed him. He really just set these goals for himself.”
DiBerardino said he will have a lot to be thankful for when he sits around the Thanksgiving table with his mother, father Louis DiBerardino, an accountant for Ernst & Young, and sister Ellie, a student a Georgetown University. He said it is a feeling of gratitude, a feeling reiterated by his mother.
“The most significant feeling is the renewed gratitude for the incredible support he’s received over the years from this community, his teachers, principals and friends,” she said.
