Born in London, Nick began playing the tuba at a young age and went on to play in the London Schools Symphony Orchestra and other youth ensembles. During a gap year after completing his A-Levels, Nick spent three months in Cuba teaching music at the Centro Nacional de Escuelas des Artes and working with musicians, dancers, artists and actors. During this time, Nick acted as vocal coach for Dutch choreographers Noortje Bijeovits and Feri de Geus on a collaborative project with the National Dance School of Cuba and the National Youth String Orchestra of the Netherlands - El Carmina del Agua.
Nick is Principal Conductor of Tuba2Cuba, an organisation he founded in 1999 to help young musicians in Cuba by sending musical instruments to their schools. Money is raised by holding large-scale concerts, often with as many as 300 performers! Tuba2Cuba has raised more than £100,000's worth of instruments and equipment for Cuban schools so far. If you would like more information, visit www.tuba2cuba.org.uk.
Nick founded the London Irish Symphony Orchestra with Marion Wood in 2005 to promote Irish classical music and to develop a performance tradition of Irish composers in London. Performances with the Orchestra have included World Premieres of works by Solfa Carlile and Jonathan Lee.
Since 2005, Nick has worked with the vocal ensemble and orchestra Sanctus (which he co-founded in 2001) to perform early classical era works in a traditional way, but on modern instruments and with young musicians. Performances have focused on the works of Mozart, including the Requiem and C Minor Masses, Vesperae Solennes de Confessore, concertos for Oboe, Clarinet and Horn as well as smaller works such as Exsultate Jubilate and light choral works. This has involved acting as a conductor, assistant conductor to Marion Wood and as a singer - in some cases even as a timpanist! Future elements of this project include performances of the Bassoon Concerto and another interpretation of the Clarinet Concerto.
In the world of Opera, Nick has acted as Orchestra Manager for productions of HMS Pinafore, The Sorcerer and The Mikado as well as Assistant Conductor and Production Manager for Mean Time Opera’s Carmen in 2007 in addition to concert performances of Oefeo ed Euridice and Dido and Aeneas. As a performer, Nick has sung in many other Gilbert and Sullivan performances, as well as joining the chorus for productions of Aida, Turandot and La Forza del Destino. Whilst Mozart is a passion, Nick is willing to admit that this is all just preparation for a production of Wagner’s Ring!
