When did you join SYO?
I think I joined in 1985 when I was 12 and playing in the Flute choir with Suzie Miller. I then worked my way up all the orchestras (Steve Williams and then Matthew Krell) until I landed in Flagship under Henrik Pisarek.
For through music you are able to help people reflect on a truth that they perhaps hadn’t considered before, you can encourage people to dream, to wonder, to think about things and people and other cultures and histories in different ways. You have the power to move people, to stretch their imagination and see beyond their own existence for a brief moment. You will help engender understanding and tolerance of other cultures; with your gift you will enable people to exercise and nourish their minds.
Your gift is not measurable in economic terms. What good is a thriving economy, if the wellbeing of its citizens are void of expression, understanding, empowerment, equality and hope?
Your gift can reach and inspire all peoples, regardless of age, gender, background, ethnicity, wealthy or poor.
You have a gift that survives. It survives the disappointment of not being famous, or not becoming as great as you thought you would be.
It’s a gift that many times actually grows larger with life’s unpredictable and inevitable heartbreaks.
You may not yet realise it, but as future musicians and artists, you haven’t signed up for a life of glory and adulation (although that ,ay well come, and I wish with every fiber of my being, that it will come in the right form for every single one of you – however, that’s not your destination, for glory is always transitory and will surely disappear just as fleetingly and arbitrarily… as it arrived. The truth is, you have signed up for a life of service by going into the Arts. And the life-changing results of that service in other people’s lives, will never disappear, as fame unquestionably will.
You are here to serve the notes, the phrase, the melody, the harmony, the composer ~ but above all and most importantly, with every breat and each bow stroke, you are here to serve humanity and in today’s world of technology, globalism, social media, populism, wars, floods and epidemics, humanity needs the Arts and Artists more than ever before.
As a Principal Oboe he has worked with many leading orchestras, including the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, Munich Philharmonic, Radio Orchestras of Cologne (WDR), Stuttgart (SWR), Frankfurt (HR), Berlin (RSB & DSO), and Opera Houses of Berlin, Munich, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Stuttgart, Mannheim, Cologne and Oslo under conductors such as Zubin Mehta, James Levine, Kurt Masur, Lorin Maazel, Gustavo Dudamel, Semyon Bychkov, Ivan Fischer, Daniel Harding, and many more. He also works regularly with various ensembles such as the Ensemble Modern, Capella Andrea Barca (Andras Schiff Ensemble) Chamber Orchestras of Munich, Stuttgart & Heilbronn, Camerata Salzburg, Klangverwaltung München, Norwegian Chamber Orchestra and the Stuttgart Bach Collegium.
Nick was a member of the Budapest Festival Orchestra from 2002-2011 and performs regularly with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra. Nick has also played as Principal Oboist with the Bayreuth Festspiel Orchestra.
As a soloist he has worked with numerous orchestras, including the Camerata Salzburg, Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen, Munich Chamber Orchestra, Munich Bach Orchestra, Georgian Philharmonic Orchestra (Tbilisi), Frankfurt Oper and Museums Orchestra, Real Filharmonia de Galicia, Polish Chamber Orchestra, Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra, Mexican National Orchestra etc. An active chamber musician, he is a founding member of the Hindemith Quintet and works intensively with the Linos Ensemble.
Nick has performed in many major music festivals in over 40 countries on all five continents including the Salzburger Festspiel, Edinburgh International Festival, BBC Proms, La folle Journe (Nantes), Menuhin Festival Gstaad, Reihngau Musik Festival, Prague Spring Festival, Hambacher Musikfest, Bachwoche Ansbach, „Festspielen Mecklenburg-Vorpommern“, „Schwetzinger Festspiel“, Schleswig Holstein Music Festival, Hitzacker Musiktage, Weilburger Schlosskonzerte, Musikfest Stuttgart, Darmstadt Ferienkurse, Münchner Biennale, Walled City Festival (Derry), Pacific Music Festival (Japan), Tongyoeng International Music Festival (Korea), Meli Mehta Music Foundation(Mumbai), Tbilisi Wind Festival, Musica Compostela (Spanien), Felicia Blumenthal International Music Festival (Tel Aviv), Sydney Festival.
As a Pedagogue, Nick has been guest Professor at numerous Music academies around the world including the Conservatoire National Superier du Musique (Paris), Royal College of Music (London), Royal Academy of Music (London), Gnessin School of Music (Moscow), Hong Kong Academy of Music, Bern Academy of Music, Buchman Mehta School of Music (Tel Aviv) etc. and regularly gives masterclasses all over the world.
He currently holds the position of Professor of Oboe at the Hochschule für Musik – Felix Mendelsohnn Bartholdy in Leipzig.
Nick is a Marigaux artist and plays a Marigaux M2 oboe.
