Michael Nicolas, Cello

Biography

Canadian cellist Michael Nicolas is quickly becoming recognized as one of the rising stars of his generation. He performs in cities across North America, Europe, and Asia, in collaboration with many renowned musicians, including Mitsuko Uchida, Richard Goode, James Levine, Kim Kashkashian, Charles Neidich, Paul Neubauer, and members of the Guarneri, Juilliard, Mendelssohn, and St. Lawrence string quartets.

Michael is involved in as many musical projects as he can find the time for, and has been a guest artist with many renowned chamber ensembles and orchestras, including the Met Chamber Ensemble, the Vienna Philharmonic, the New York Philharmonic, Speculum Musicae, and Musicians from Marlboro. From 2008-10, he was Associate Principal Cellist of the Montreal Symphony Orchestra. He is also a frequent guest at many music festivals, including Marlboro, Ravinia, Yellow Barn, and Chamber Music Northwest and has recorded for Universal, Naxos, and Tzadik record labels.

In the summer, Michael spends his time touring Asia as a member of the hugely popular Ensemble Ditto, a chamber music initiative based out of South Korea that has garnered extraordinary success in reaching new and more diverse classical music audiences. They have achieved a massive fan following, selling out concert halls in Korea and Japan, including the cavernous 5200-seat Tokyo International Forum. He has been a member since 2009.

On the slightly more esoteric side of the music world, Michael has enjoyed worked closely with many distinguished composers, including Charles Wuorinen and Milton Babbitt, and has given world premieres of pieces by Mario Davidovsky and John Zorn.

Born and raised in Winnipeg, Canada, he made his concerto debut in 1999 with the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra, and returns regularly to perform recitals and concerts. He is a graduate of the Juilliard School, and his teachers and mentors include David Soyer, Fred Sherry, Harvey Shapiro, and Aldo Parisot. He lives in New York Ci