Peruvian-born double bass player Nathaniel De la Cruz started learning piano at the age of 6 from his father and was introduced to the double bass at the age of 16. He was the principal double bass for the National Youth Symphony Orchestra of Peru.

Nathaniel studied with Dante Bereche from the National Symphony Orchestra of Peru before coming to the United States to pursue his bachelor’s degree at the University of Southern Mississippi. He is now working on his doctorate in musical arts degree at Arizona State University, where he also earned his master’s degree.

He serves as the double bass instructor for Harmony Project Phoenix and as adjunct faculty at Chandler-Gilbert Community College.

Nathaniel plays bass for MusicaNova Orchestra and the West Valley Symphony, and is principal double bass of the ASU Symphony Orchestra. He was the principal double bass for the University of Southern Mississippi Symphony Orchestra, a member of the Meridian Symphony and Gulf Coast Symphony in Mississippi. He played with the Arizona Broadway Theater Orchestra in its 2019-2020 season.

He played in concerts with renowned conductors and soloists such as Gustavo Dudamel, Case Scaglione, Midori, Apo Hsu, Nadja Salerno-Sonnemberg, James Galway, Juan Diego Florez, Paul Badura-Skoda, Anthony McGill, Deborah Voigt, and The Beach Boys.

He was the first prize winner of numerous competitions like the MMTA Strings Competition, the MTNA Young Artists Strings Solo Competition, and the annual William T. Gower Concerto Competition of the USM School of Music.

In 2019, he participated in the Giovanni Bottesini International Double Bass Competition in Italy. In January 2020, he won first prize at the National Young Artists Competition of the Coeur d’Alene Symphony in Spokane, Washington. He was also a semifinalist for the Latin Orchestra of Europe International Double Bass Competition.

He recently won first prize at the talent show of the Charleston International Music Competition, the Grand Prize of the Art Festival Bass Strings International Competition in Campina, Romania, and the Concerto Competition of the ASU School of Music, Dance and Theater.