Biography
Born in Sydney, Nick began playing the horn at the age of nine and after migrating with his family to Singapore as a teenager, he studied the horn with Jamie Hersch and Marc-Antoine Robillard of the Singapore Symphony Orchestra. Returning to Sydney for university, Nick began studying with Rachel Silver of the Sydney Symphony, before completing a master’s in Music Performance with David Thompson at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music.
Nick successfully auditioned for a master class with Stefan Dohr at the International Horn Symposium in Los Angeles and enjoyed extensive master classes with Dale Clevenger, Luca Benucci, and Xiao-Ming Han during the 2015 Italian Brass Festival.
Nick has gained much experience as an orchestral horn player, performing in the Australian Youth Orchestra (AYO), Singapore National Youth Orchestra, Sydney Youth Orchestra, Special Broadcasting Service (SBS) Television and Radio Youth Orchestra and Sydney University Symphony Orchestra. In 2013, Nick was awarded a musical excellence scholarship by the SBS Youth Orchestra. Nick has benefited from the experience of world-class mentors through participating in the AYO National Music Camp from 2013-2015, and the Australian International Symphony Orchestra Institute from 2014-15.
As a chamber musician, Nick has toured to Verona with Gone with the Winds quintet as part of the second Sydney Conservatorium of Music Estivo Festival. Nick took part in The Sydney Academy of Chamber Music in 2014, performing the Brahms Horn Trio.
QUICKFIRE QUESTIONS
Which three people, living or dead, would you most like to have dinner with and why?
Richard Strauss – one of my favourite composers, and a best friend to any horn player. I would love to get inside the head of the man who gave us so many masterpieces.
Sergiu Celibidache – to me one of the most brilliant conductors, someone who was able to bring out the musical essence of every piece I have heard him conduct.
George Carlin – my favourite comedian of all time, I would love to be able to experience his wit first hand in a discussion on the world today.
What do you love about classical music?
The sound of the instruments is of course the most attractive thing about the genre, the huge sense of risk associated with performing on them is what I find the most exciting. Though what I love the most is the huge sound created when the instruments combine in an orchestra, no other genre compares in terms of a raw acoustic experience.
Tell us something about yourself that might surprise us
I completed a commerce degree at the University of Sydney majoring in Finance and Accounting before studying music. I was also fortunate enough to work in the industry part time during my music studies.