Photo: Andrej Grilc

Nicholas Rimmer

German-English pianist Nicholas Rimmer is passionately committed to exploring the piano in all its musical contexts, whether as solo instrument, in a large array of chamber music formations,
accompanying voices or as a vehicle for improvisation. A pianist whose main focus since childhood has been in collaborative work, he is fortunate to have formed many long-standing musical partnerships in his career and he devotes a large part of his musical life to them.

Since 2015, Nicholas has been the pianist of Trio Gaspard, with violinist Jonian Ilias Kadesha and cellist Vashti Hunter. In addition to a busy concert schedule, the group is currently recording the complete Haydn Trios for Chandos and has commissioned nine composers to write companion works for this project. The ensemble enjoyed a residency at Wigmore Hall during the 23/24 season as well as touring Australia, Sweden and USA in recent years.

In 2008 Nicholas founded a very different trio with percussionist Johannes Fischer and trombonist Frederic Belli. The unique Trio Belli-Fischer-Rimmer has been acclaimed for its ‘virtuosity coupled with boundless creativity’, (Braunschweiger Zeitung) in programmes covering Bach to Broadway, Weill to Tom Waits, Debussy, Piazzolla as well as contemporary music. As a side-project, he partners with Johannes Fischer in performing live improvisations to silent movies.

Nicholas has long-running duo partnerships with violinist Tianwa Yang and cellist Gabriel Schwabe, which are documented by award-winning CD recordings of Brahms, Schumann, Antheil and Wolfgang Rihm. As a concerto soloist, he has performed many concertos from Haydn to Hindemith, collaborating with NDR Radiophilharmonie Hanover, Hamburg Symphony Orchestra, Staatsphilharmonie Cottbus, Aurora Orchestra, CHAARTS Chamber Soloists and Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra.

As a song accompanist he has worked with Philip Langridge, Christiane Iven, Caroline Melzer, Simon Bode, Katharina Konradi, Anna Lucia Richter and others. His partnership with the baritone Ronan Collett dates back over 20 years to their studies together at Cambridge University.

Nicholas read Music at Clare College – where he was also Organ Scholar – before continuing his piano studies in Germany. Among the many musicians from whom he has received invaluable musical guidance are Ferenc Rados, Hatto Beyerle, Eberhard Feltz, Christopher Oakden, Roger Vignoles and John Wilson.

His musical life has taken Nicholas to perform at many prestigious venues such as KKL Lucerne, Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, Boulezsaal Berlin, Concertgebouw Amsterdam and the Berlin Philharmonie. He has played at many of Europe’s most renowned music festivals including Aldeburgh, Schleswig-Holstein, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, the BBC Proms, Grafenegg, West Cork, Heidelberger Frühling, and he has been a regular at the Lockenhaus Kammermusikfest since 2014. After previously holding teaching positions in Hannover, Frankfurt, Manchester and Fiesole, in 2019 Nicholas became professor of piano and collaborative piano at the Hochschule für Musik in Freiburg, Germany. He also delights in cold-water swimming, Korean food, chess and astrophysics.