Characterised by his captivating stage – presence, richness of tone and profound musicianship, Nico is always able to connect with people through his performances. As a cellist he is dedicated to challenge the boundaries of the cello repertoire and is driven to bring the uncommon to the public. Alongside performing, the cellist is extremely dedicated to further developing the classical music and arts education education in Indonesia, and in other places where there is little access.

 

Active both as a soloist and chamber musician, Nico regularly performs in Europe and Indonesia. His most active chamber music group being the Rosin Octet. The Octet has performed and partaken in numerous festivals in countries such as the Netherlands, Portugal, Italy, Estonia, Germany, Switzerland and Poland. Furthermore, they have given a handful of premieres for new string octet repertoire. Outside of the octet, Nico performs regularly with pianists Wenshan Ji in the Netherlands, and Harimada Kusuma when he is in Indonesia. 

 

As a soloist, he has performed the Dutch Premiere of Michael Daugherty's Tales of Hemingway with Sjoerd Haver (2023), Gulda's Cello Concerto with Joost Smeets and Brabant Sinfonia (2024), and Saint Saëns' Cello Concerto no.1 with Sjoerd Haver and Kamerorkest Midden-Holland (2024). Some of the cellist's current projects include, Vaja Azarashvili’s Cello Concerto no. 1 and Nikolai Kapustin’s Cello Concerto No. 2 with STeP Ensemble, sonatas by Fania Chapiro with pianist Felita Tanaya, and new arrangements of Tango Music for cello and saxophone quartet. 

 

Nico is currently based in The Netherlands and pursuing his master’s degree at Fontys Academy of the Arts under Monique Heidema. He had been studying with her since 2019, of which he obtained his bachelor’s degree in 2023 with distinction. In the same year, Nico also started studying with cellists Jan-Ype Nota and Joachim Eijlander. Besides classical music, he is also studying Argentinian Tango Music with violinist Stephen Meyer. 

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Nico (2001) was born in Jakarta, Indonesia. By the age of 7, Nico started studying classical music on the piano, with Amin Tamin, Ingrid M Cahya, and later with Adelaide Simbolon and Alfred M Sugiri. He was a finalist in a few piano competitions such as Ananda Sukarlan Piano Competition and Steinway Piano Competition. Afterwards, he took cello lessons at the age of 14 with Sulistyo Rini, and later with the late Haryo Suyoto, and Bryant Gozali.

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When in Indonesia, Nico actively performes and teaches. In the year 2024, he and pianist Harimada Kusuma gave concerts and masterclasses in Jakarta and Bandung. During this time, they have worked together with schools and institutes such as Jakarta Conservatory of Music, and Bandung Philharmonic. Nico was also a guest performer for Aula Sinfonia Jakarta's Chamber Music Series where he performed a clarinet trio recital with pianist Myra Pranajaya, and clarinetist Sean Alexander. 

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Aside from performing and teaching, Nico page turns in concert halls such as Muziekgebouw Eindhoven from time to time. He had the joy of page turning for pianists such as Evgeny Kissin, Ronald Brautigam, Kristian Bezuidenhout and Nikolai Lugansky amongst many others. Every now and then, he also plays the cello in a Tilburg-based Nirvana Tribute Band, Smells Like Nirvana. 

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