Caroline Nicolas

Hailed as “a bright new gamba star” (The Strad Magazine), Canadian cellist and viol player Caroline Nicolas enjoys an international career performing repertoire spanning the Middle Ages to the 21st century. Equally at home in early and modern contexts, she performs with leading ensembles across Europe and North America, including The English Concert, Philharmonia Baroque, Kammerorchester Basel, Ars Lyrica Houston, Pacific MusicWorks, and New World Symphony. She recently completed her tenure as Music Director of New Baroque Orchestra and now serves as Artistic Director of Ars Poetica, collaborating regularly with artists including Jordi Savall, William Christie, Rachel Podger, Harry Bicket, Andrea Marcon, and Kristian Bezuidenhout.

Her performances have been heard at major festivals including the Boston Early Music Festival, Bach Festival Leipzig, and Styriarte, as well as at venues such as the Berliner Philharmonie, KKL Luzern, Carnegie Hall, Alice Tully Hall, and Benaroya Hall. She has also appeared on KING FM, KUHF, WDIY, and CCTV (China).

Her debut album, Pièces en solitude, was praised by Gramophone for its “understated beauty,” noting that her performances “judge the music's elasticity of form and tempo to perfection.” The recording was also featured in The Strad, Strings Magazine, and Early Music America. Recent engagements include Newport Classical, Gallery Concerts, Connecticut Early Music Festival, and Milwaukee Early Music Now, and The Seattle Times named her appearance with Emerald City Music a "Top Pick" of the classical season.

Caroline is a Fellow of The English Concert in America and winner of The Juilliard School's Historical Performance Concerto Competition, which led to her solo debut at Alice Tully Hall.

A dedicated educator, she has taught at Yale University, the Peabody Conservatory, the University of Victoria, and the University of Washington, and has led workshops for organizations including the Viola da Gamba Society of America and the Port Townsend Early Music Workshop. Her students have gone on to study at leading conservatories across North America and Europe, and she has been featured in Early Music America for her work on historical bowing techniques.

A native of Winnipeg, Canada, Caroline studied with Phoebe Carrai at The Juilliard School and with Christophe Coin and Paolo Pandolfo at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis in Basel. She now lives in New York City with her husband, lutenist Kevin Payne.