Nick Ballen is an amateur American composer based in Chicago. Born and raised in Washington, DC, he earned his undergraduate degree in international studies from Middlebury College in Vermont in 2009 and his JD from the University of Illinois College of Law at Champaign-Urbana in 2015. A lifelong fan of classical music (among many other genres and styles of music) and a (somewhat casual) student of the piano in his youth, Nick is largely self-taught as a composer. He began practicing the piano again in 2016, after a nearly 15-year hiatus, and began composing in 2018 - as a hobby and creative outlet while not otherwise engaged in his day job as an attorney.

Nick especially enjoys composing in the classical style - which also happens to be his favorite period for playing and listening alike - and is heavily inspired by Mozart, Hadyn, and Beethoven. Much of his work has been for the solo piano, including a handful of full-length piano sonatas as well as variations and other shorter pieces. He is exploring writing for other instruments and has successfully composed and recorded a string quartet and other chamber works, such as the variations for flute and piano below. Ongoing projects include a short overture for orchestra and a wind quintet.