My Story

New Haven, Connecticut 1992-2010

I grew up in a musical household in New Haven, Connecticut. My dad, musicologist John Platoff, introduced me to an enormous variety of classical, pop, and world music, and we sang often together as a family. I started studying trombone with Jim Fryer and Terrence Fay at Neighborhood Music School in fourth grade. After discovering the symphonies of Gustav Mahler at age 16, I decided to pursue music professionally.

Chicago 2010-2014

I attended Northwestern University for my Bachelors of Music in Trombone Performance and Music Theory, and studied with Michael Mulcahy, Christopher Davis, Peter Ellefson, Randall Hawes, Timothy Higgins, and Douglas Wright (also counting Ian Bousfield, Per Brevig, and Warren Deck as important mentors I've learned from over the years). As a sophomore, I founded the Players Operation Chamber Orchestra, a 40-person ensemble that showcased the talents of student composers and soloists, and served as its conductor and artistic director.

Miami 2014-2016

After college, I moved to Miami Beach to begin a fellowship with the New World Symphony. In addition to performing weekly concerts and studying with visiting faculty, I produced and curated MIXTAPE, a live concert adaptation of the multi-genre listening parties I hosted in college, to a standing-room only audience, 42% of whom were attending a NWS concert for the first time.

This was also the beginning of my career as an educator, teaching my first lessons and masterclasses in addition to co-founding the Miami Brass Festival, a day-long clinic for high school-age brass students.

San Francisco 2016-2024

In September 2016, I joined the San Francisco Symphony as Associate Principal Trombone, and over the following eight seasons I had the pleasure of performing over 1000 concerts with my colleagues at our home in Davies Symphony Hall and many of the world's great concert halls in the US, Europe, and Asia. I also found my voice as a composer, singer-songwriter, and improviser during this time, especially during the pandemic when I wrote and recorded my debut album Limousine of Creative Potential. I got into live-looping and playing with bands, sometimes even busking late at night on street corners and BART stations, and for a few years adopted the attitude/affirmation “Nick Platoff is Everywhere” (which now sounds way too tiring lol).

I performed at Burning Man, at a night club in Morocco, the summit of Montfort in the Swiss Alps, jazz clubs and shopping malls in Thailand, fire ceremonies and tea lounges in Guatemala, a Bavarian wedding, parks and marinas throughout Italy, the Museum of Non-Conformist Art in St. Petersburg, and all over the Bay Area in major sports stadiums, bars, clubs, parties, churches, schools, and homeless shelters in addition to countless more living rooms and backyards across the world and all over the internet. I joined the pre-college faculty at San Francisco Conservatory of Music in 2018, and then Stanford University in 2022.

I performed as a trombone soloist at the Tchaikovsky Competition in St. Petersburg, Russia and with my SFS colleagues Mark Inouye and Paul Welcomer with the SFCM Brass Ensemble. I played with Bay Area groups like Mercury Soul and Jazz Mafia, as well as the Miami-based Nu Deco Ensemble (OMG this concert with Jacob Collier…). I composed my Symphony No. 1 for my friend Arun Saigal and the SF Civic Symphony in August 2023, and The Fanford Stanfare for the Stanford Brass ensemble in April 2024, then simultaneously wrote my first film score for Ramazan Nanayev’s IKIGAI while also producing the music video Spying on Shannon with my friends Shannon and Erika in May and June of 2024.

My Bay Area chapter was an unbelievable adventure of growth, exploration, and fun. I wouldn’t trade anything for the experiences I had and friends I made there, but after eight years I was ready for a change.

Houston 2024-present

After a successful audition in October 2023, I joined the Houston Symphony as Principal Trombone in September 2024, and have loved the beginning of this new chapter. I will also join the faculty at Rice University in September 2025. I really enjoy my new leadership role in the orchestra, school, and city overall. After 32 years of figuring out who I am and want to become as a musician and person, I feel ready to contribute to a fresh new scene, and can’t thank my new colleagues, friends, and fans here in Houston for welcoming me with such warmth! The best is yet to come, and if you join my email list above, all of it will be delivered straight to your inbox!

Thanks for taking the time to read the more in depth telling of my story! I feel extreme gratitude toward the many communities that have given me the opportunity to do what I love. To all of my dear friends, colleagues, mentors, and listeners: I appreciate you so much. Please know that every note is for you ❤️