Nicholas Jones has a distinguished career as performer and teacher. As soloist, chamber musician and principal cellist, he has performed throughout Europe and the USA. As well as teaching Cello at RNCM, he is Head of Strings at Chetham’s School of Music.
From 1989 – 1997 he was cellist of the Bochmann Quartet, giving concerts and recording with them at many of the major UK festivals and concert halls. He was also principal cellist of the English String Orchestra, with whom he was a frequent soloist and director, performing with the orchestra throughout Europe and the USA with Lord Yehudi Menuhin, including Berlin Philharmonie and many times at the Gstaad Festival.
From 2001 – 2006 he was a teacher/performing artist at the Bowdoin International Music Festival, USA. He also appeared in the Festival’s Winter Series in New York.
Recent performances have included the St. Cyprien Festival – France, Valdres Festival – Norway, Siena Quatro Quarto Music Festival – Italy (2008, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2017), the Arona Festival, Tenerife, with the Chamber Music Society of Korea and recitals in the National Philharmonic Chamber Series, Vilnius and the Kaunas Philharmonic Chamber Series and at the Philharmonic Hall, Minsk.
With colleagues Franco Mezzena and Stefano Giovazzi he has also given trio recitals in Italy; recently performing the Beethoven Triple Concerto with the Mantua Festival Orchestra, Bari Symphony Orchestra and Collegium Symphonium Veneto.
His most recent recording was of Peter Lieuwen’s Cello Concerto, with the Slovak National Symphony Orchestra.
Masterclasses have included at all the Conservatoires of the UK, Barratt-Due Institute and the State Academy in Norway, St. Petersburg Special Music Schools and Conservatoire, Tallinn, Vilnius and Riga, Zilina and Bratislava Music Academies, conservatoires in the USA, Belarus and Germany and Salzburg Mozarteum. Nicholas has also been a regular teacher at the Astona Summer Festival, Switzerland.
In May 2018, he was a member of the the jury and gave masterclasses at the Carl Davidoff International Cello Competition in Latvia and will join the jury again in 2020. Since 2009 he has been chair of the cello jury at the Young Musician Competition in Tallinn and this year he is on the cello jury of the Talents for Europe Competition in Slovakia.