Nicholas was born in 1988, and began his musical career as a treble in the Choir of the Queens Chapel of the Savoy, London, where he was Head Chorister. After this, he began to play the Bassoon, and was eventually rewarded in 2006, with an entrance scholarship to study at Birmingham Conservatoire. He studied there with Meyrick Alexander and Nicholas Hunka. In 2008 he was awarded an ERASMUS Scholarship, and a place in the bassoon class of the Music Faculty of the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague. There he studied with Professors Jiří Seidl and František Herman, who were both previously Principals in the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra. He regularly participates in masterclasses and music Festivals, both in England and Europe. He has also studied in Switzerland with David Schnebeli, Lyndon Watts and Marc Trénel, Germany with Klaus Thunemann, and in France with Carlo Colombo. Nicholas is currently studying for a masters at the Royal Academy of Music, London, with an scholarship, studies with Gareth Newman, John Orford and David Chatterton.
Contemporary Music makes up a crucial component of his creative output. Regularly playing in contemporary and avant garde music ensembles, he recently appeared as soloist with the Interrobang ensemble. This year he has premièred works by Dolden, Peate, Liu and Dewey. He has also studied in masterclasses with contemporary music experts Pascal Gallois and John Orford, and will continue to study with John at the Royal Academy.
Nicholas regularly plays with orchestras, and as well as his work with the college orchestras and ensembles, he has been invited to play with most of the amateur and semi professional orchestras and ensembles in the West Midlands (Sinfonia of Birmingham, Regency Sinfonia, Birmingham Philharmonic Orchestra). Additionally he has been invited to play with the Young Musicians Symphony Orchestra, London. As well as having a teaching privately, Nicholas was this summer invited to work with the National Youth Orchestra of Iraq, as bassoon tutor Away from music Nick enjoys following Cricket and Football, and sampling real ale!
