Originally from Sydney, Nicole performs throughout the world as a highly respected exponent in historical clarinet, basset horn, basset clarinet and chalumeau. Nicole is principal clarinettist, co-artistic director and general manager for the Australian Romantic & Classical Orchestra. She has performed as principal clarinet in many of Europe and Australia’s finest historical instrument orchestras such as Concerto Copenhagen, Barokksolistene in Norway, New Dutch Academy, the Polish Arte dei Suonatori, Netherlands Bach Society and the Australian Brandenburg Orchestra. She has also performed with Tafelmusik from Canada and Les Musiciens du Louvre, and has appeared on many occasions at the acclaimed Utrecht Early Music Festival.

In addition to her performing career, Nicole is committed to music education, particularly associated with historically informed performance (HIP). She regularly facilitates education projects in schools and tertiary institutions and participates in seminars and roundtable events as a specialist in HIP and arts management.

Together with Rachael Beesley, Nicole co-presents the Australian Romantic & Classical Orchestra’s education series Voyage of Musical Discovery and co-directs the Young Mannheim Symphonists youth orchestra training program in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane. Since returning to Australia, she has tutored at numerous music courses and institutions including the Australian Youth Orchestra’s National Music Camp, Melbourne Youth Orchestras’ Summer School, at ANU (Australian National University) and ANAM (Australian National Academy of Music).

Nicole studied modern clarinet at the Sydney Conservatorium and was awarded a Queen’s Trust Scholarship to continue her studies abroad. She moved to The Netherlands where she gained a postgraduate degree in historical clarinet and historically informed performance at the Royal Conservatorium in The Hague in 1997, and where she lived and worked for 17 years. Nicole has won awards from the International Van Wassenaar Concours and the prestigious Flanders Festival Competition in Bruges.

MANAGEMENT BIOGRAPHY

Nicole van Bruggen has worked in arts management alongside her career as a performing musician since 1997.

Nicole is the General Manager and Co-Artistic Director of the Australian Romantic & Classical Orchestra which she founded with the late Richard Gill and her Co-Artistic Director Rachael Beesley in 2012. She leads a compact management team, and annually engages over 100 freelance musicians and dozens of arts industry contractors.

From 1995-2012, Nicole worked in The Netherlands where she founded Resonance Music Management, an agency offering international representation to historically informed performance ensembles. She worked as Business Manager for Musica Antica da Camera (2010-2011) presenting over 30 concerts annually in The Hague, and as Concert Sales and Funding Manager for GE SHARP (2010-2011). In 2002, Nicole co-founded the New Dutch Academy where she worked as Business Manager until 2008.

Nicole van Bruggen is the Australian Romantic & Classical Orchestra’s co-artistic director, general manager and principal clarinettist. She is also co-director of the Young Mannheim Symphonists. Nicole has been performing with the orchestra since its launch concert in 2013 and has featured as soloist in the Johann Stamitz Clarinet Concerto in B flat major (2014), the Mozart Clarinet Concerto (2019) and the Mozart Clarinet Quintet (2015, 2019 & 2021).

Click here to listen to our playlist of selected recordings featuring clarinettist Nicole van Bruggen.