Nicholas Swensen

Born in 1999 in Denmark, Danish violist and conductor Nicholas Algot Swensen is one of his country’s most sought after young performers with a burgeoning career as a chamber musician and soloist.

He has won several prizes such as The Juilliard Viola Concerto Competition 2021 – the prize included a performance of Walton Viola Concerto with The Juilliard Orchestra and Sir Antonio Pappano at Lincoln Center – Prize winner in 2021 Primrose Viola Competition, where he performed Bartok Viola Concerto with the Colburn Orchestra in Los Angeles, 1st prize + Dvorak Association Prize at the Oskar Nedbal International Viola Competition 2020 (Prague) 1st prize + EMCY prize in the Nordic Øresunds Solist competition (Copenhagen), Gold medal + Talent Prize in Berlingske Competition, special prize in Max Rostal international viola competition (Berlin), Copenhagen Summer Festival Talent Prize, the Leonie Sonning talent prize, the Danish Radio Classical Talent Award and the Carl Nielsen talent award. As a recipient of the 2017 Van Hauen Talent Award in Copenhagen Nicholas performed Mozart’s Sinfonia Concertante with the ARCO Chamber Orchestra in the concert hall of Tivoli Gardens.

Nicholas has performed in Denmark’s foremost music festivals such as Danish String Quartet Festival, Lundsgaard Chamber Music Festival (performances with Trio con Brio, Nikolaj Szeps-Znaider, Andrej Bielow, Nils Mönkemeyer, Enrico Pace and Quartetto di Cremona) Hindsgavl International Chamber Music Festival, Tivoli Gardens International Music Festival (performing with the Danish String Quartet, Andreas Brantelid and N. Szeps-Znaider) and Holstebro International Music Festival.

Abroad he has taken part in world renowned festivals including the Ravinia Festival, Kronberg Academy’s Chamber Music Connects the World, Accademia Isola Classica, Eggenfelden Klassisch, Radebeul Musikfestival, Oberstdorfer Musiksommer, Music@Menlo.

In April 2021 he appeared with the Odense Symphony Orchestra playing the Walton Viola Concerto as a part of receiving the Danish Radio Talent Award 2021 (’P2-prisen’). He has received valuable coaching from musicians such as Tabea Zimmermann, Kim Kashkashian, Antoine Tamestit, Ettore Causa and Atar Arad, among others.

At the age of 14 Nicholas was accepted into the class of professor Barbara Westphal as a part of the ‘Jungstudent’ program at Lübeck Musikhochschule. He later studied with Lars Anders Tomter and Asbjørn Nørgaard in Copenhagen and he is currently finishing his Master’s Degree at The Juilliard School with Heidi Castleman and Misha Amory. Apart from viola playing, Nicholas is a conductor and studied orchestral and choir conducting at the Danish Radio Malko Conducting School under the guidance of chief conductor Fabio Luisi and at the Panula Academy in Helsinki under the legendary Jorma Panula.

He gave his public debut in 2021 with the Lyngby-Taarbæk Symphony Orchestra performing Tchaikovsky 6th Symphony as well as the Danish Radio Vocal Ensemble in Brahms ‘Liebesliederwaltzer’ and songs by Carl Nielsen and Per Nørgaard. He was also conductor in residence of Festival and Friends in Copenhagen where he led Strauss Metamorphosen for 23 solo strings and Shostakovich Piano Concerto no. 1 apart from also playing chamber music at the festival.

Nicholas is the newly appointed Artistic Director of Oremandsgaard Kammermusikfest in South Denmark, taking over an important job previously held by artists such as Natalie Clein, Marianna Shirinyan and Hans Abrahamsen. This year he is putting together a group of top musicians such as Yura Lee, Alexander Sitkovetsky, Enrico Pace, Andreas Brantelid and composer Lotta Wennäkoski, among others.

From age 9-13, Nicholas was a boy soprano soloist in the Royal Danish Chapel Choir/Copenhagen Boy’s Choir and he toured around the world as a soloist with this group – in the USA, South Africa, Europe and England. Nicholas performed major solo-parts in Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms, Duruflé’s Requiem and Britten War Requiem as well as Bach St. John Passion, St. Matthew Passion and the Christmas Oratorio. He recorded Benjamin Britten’s song cycle ’A Boy Was Born’ singing the soprano solo-part with the renowned English chamber choir ’Gabrieli Consort’ and conductor Paul Mc’Creesh in 2013 in London. He was also chosen to sing the Shepherd Boy in approximately 12 performances of Wagner’s Tannhäuser at the Royal Danish Opera with the Royal Danish Orchestra and world renowned international opera soloists in 2013.

Nicholas is under management of Nordic Artists Management. He plays a viola by brothers Amati (1616) through a generous loan from Anders Sveaas’ Almennyttige Fond. 

He has been studying at Kronberg Academy with Tabea Zimmermann since 2023 - generously made possible by the Jürgen Fitschen/Friederike Lohse patronage.