Nicolas Hodges
Piano Tutor
Born in 1970 in London. Nicolas Hodges has lived in Germany for 20 years. He studied piano with Susan Bradshaw and Sulamita Aronovsky, and composition with Michael Finnissy and Alexander Goehr, also attending masterclasses by Morton Feldman. Professor of piano at the Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst Stuttgart, Hodges approaches the works of classical, romantic, 20th century and contemporary composers with the same questing spirit, leading the Guardian newspaper to comment: “Hodges’ recitals always boldly go where few other pianists dare… with an energy that sometimes defies belief.”
Close collaboration with such contrasting figures as John Adams, Helmut Lachenmann and Karlheinz Stockhausen is central to Hodges’ career and many of the world’s most revered composers have dedicated works to him, including Thomas Adès, Gerald Barry, Harrison Birtwistle, Elliott Carter, James Clarke, Hugues Dufourt, Pascal Dusapin, Beat Furrer, Betsy Jolas, Isabel Mundry, Brice Pauset, Rolf Riehm, Wolfgang Rihm, Rebecca Saunders, Salvatore Sciarrino, Martin Smolka, Miroslav Srnka, Simon Steen-Andersen and Christian Wolff.
Nicolas Hodges has established successful relationships with many of today’s leading orchestras and ensembles, and engagements include regular performances with orchestras such as the BBC Symphony, Boston Symphony, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, hr-Sinfonieorchester Frankfurt, London Philharmonic, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Melbourne Symphony, MET Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, Orchestre Philharmonique de Luxembourg, Philadelphia Orchestra, Philharmonia Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony, Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, St Louis Symphony, Sydney Symphony Orchestra, Tokyo Philharmonic, Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich and WDR Sinfonieorchester Cologne and ensembles including ASKO/Schoenberg, Birmingham Contemporary Music Group, Contrechamps Geneva, International Contemporary Ensemble New York and the Remix Ensemble, Porto.
Among the distinguished conductors with whom Nicolas Hodges regularly collaborates are Thomas Adès, Daniel Barenboim, George Benjamin, Martyn Brabbins, Sylvain Cambreling, Edward Gardner, Susanna Mälkki, Cornelius Meister, Jonathan Nott, Emilio Pomàrico, David Robertson, Pascal Rophé, François- Xavier Roth, Peter Rundel, Jukka-Pekka Saraste, Pierre-André Valade, Ilan Volkov and Ryan Wigglesworth.
Hodges has performed in Berlin (Musikfest), Brussels (Ars Musica), Hamburg (Ostertoene), Helsinki (Musica Nova), London (Barbican Centre, Wigmore Hall, Southbank Centre and the BBC Proms), Lucerne (Festival), Madrid (INAEM), Melbourne International Arts Festival, New York (Carnegie Hall and Mostly Mozart), Paris (IRCAM and Festival d’ Automne), Rome (IUC), Salzburg (Festival and Biennale), Strasbourg (Musica), Stuttgart (Eclat), Tanglewood (Festival), Tokyo, Vienna (Wien Modern) and Zurich (Tage für Neue Musik).
He collaborates regularly with the Arditti Quartet, Adrian Brendel, Colin Currie, Ilya Gringolts, Anssi Karttunen, Michael Wendeberg, Carolin Widmann and has been a member of Trio Accanto since 2013.
Nicolas Hodges has been piano tutor at the Darmstadt Summer Course since 2000.