Pianist Julie Nishimura celebrates 20 years as Faculty Accompanist for the Department of Music with more than 350 collaborative recitals and over 40 opera and scene study performances with the Opera Workshop and Opera Theatre. As secondary faculty, she teaches the Accompanying/Chamber Music and Sight-reading classes. A much sought-after collaborative artist, she has performed on the chamber music series of: Carnegie's Weill Recital Hall, The Philadelphia Orchestra, Delaware Symphony and has been a guest artist at over 30 college campuses. Julie is a perennial favorite at the Delaware Chamber Music Festival, California Summer Music and Strings International Music Festival where she has given recitals with Hai-Ye Ni, Carrie Dennis, Harold Robinson and John Koen. As Co-Artistic Directors of the non-profit organization, Distant Voices Touring Theatre, she and her husband, writer/stage director Danny Peak, have produced over 100 shows for audiences nationally and internationally.

2009 projects include a recording of solo piano works by Stephen Holochwost for Albany Records, a performance of the Schumann Piano Quintet with the Copeland String Quartet, guest artist with Camerata Philadelphia and, on Mother's Day, a special 20th Anniversary celebration with Julie and Friends: Marianne Gythfeldt, clarinet; Andrea Priester-Houde, viola; Marie Robinson, soprano; Danny Peak, playwright/actor. Program includes blue pacific for solo piano by Michael Torke, American Standard for clarinet and piano by Michael Kaulkin, arias from Carlisle Floyd's Susannah, a Suite for viola and piano by UD student composer Sam Peters and MORE!

A native of San Francisco, Julie began her piano studies at the age of seven with Alla Sviridoff. Subsequent studies were at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music with Paul Hersh, the New England Conservatory of Music with Leonard Shure and the Longy School of Music with Victor Rosenbaum.