Schubertiade 395

One of Australia’s most exciting young musicians, Nicholas appears for the Schubert Society for the first time in 2023 in a program featuring Handel's Chaconne in G major HWV 435, Schubert's Piano Sonata in C minor D. 958 and Brahms' Piano Sonata No. 1 in C major Op. 1

Acclaimed for his “stirring, magnetic and powerful” performances (Arts Hub), Sydney-born Nicholas Kennedy made his concerto debut in 2014, performing Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 1 with the Kuring-Gai Philharmonic Orchestra. He has subsequently appeared in Germany, the United Kingdom and throughout Australia. Nicholas’s competition successes include: Open Instrumental Winner of the Australian Concerto and Vocal Competition (2023); Winner of the Mary Greville Piano Scholarship (2017); Winner of the Nan Price Piano Award (2017); Runner-Up in the Glass Sellers’ Beethoven Prize, London (2019); Finalist in the John Allison Piano Scholarship (2018 and 2019) and Best Prelude and Fugue in the Lev Vlassenko Piano Competition (2015). Among other solo engagements in 2023 are Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 5 with the Sydney University Symphony Orchestra and Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1 with the Modést Orchestra. Besides performance, Nicholas is deeply engaged with music research, focussing on piano music of the nineteenth century and the intersection between analysis and praxis. An award-winning article on Chopin’s Fantasy Op. 49 has appeared in The Chopin Review, and in October 2023 he will be a presenter at the international artistic research symposium, Performers(’) Present, in Singapore.

An alumnus of the Rising Stars program, Nicholas completed his undergraduate studies at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, graduating with First Class Honours and the University Medal. He also holds a Master of Music with Distinction from the Guildhall School of Music & Drama, London, where he won the Rose Lawrence Award for academic excellence. Nicholas’s principal piano teachers include Joan Havill, Clemens Leske and Gerard Willems, and he has appeared in masterclasses with Richard Goode, Stephen Hough, Bernd Glemser, Robert McDonald and others. Nicholas currently lectures at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, where he is also completing a creative-led PhD on late Beethoven. His debut album, featuring Beethoven’s last three piano sonatas, was released on the Orpheus Classical label in 2021 and is available on all major streaming platforms.