Piano · Harpsichord · Research

Biography

A multifaceted musician whose repertoire encompasses performances on both modern and historical keyboards, Nicolas Margarit has quickly established himself as one of the most singular artists of his generation.

He regularly performs as a soloist and chamber musician in venues and concert series throughout Europe. Recent appearances at festivals include the Schubertíada Vilabertran, Festival de Música Antigua de Úbeda y Baeza, Marvão International Music Festival, Cataluña’s Hammerklavier Festival, and the Festival Pianino in Valldemossa. He is the leader and artistic director of Ad Sonum, a newly founded early music ensemble based in Madrid.

"A wonderful musician who
deliberately eschews ostentation."

Critics have described his playing as being especially marked by clarity, rhythmic vitality, and economy of gesture. His musical philosophy is primarily guided by a blend of modern sensibilities with the expressive means and freedom of the 18th and 19th centuries. In addition, he actively contributes to musicological research and investigation, with a new critical edition of J. S. Bach’s Goldberg Variations forthcoming.

"The precision of his touch and the agility
of his fingerwork is overwhelming."

He is also active as an arranger, frequently performing his own transcriptions both for solo piano and chamber ensembles. Upcoming programmes include a solo piano transcription of F. Schubert’s Fantasia in f minor D 940, and a solo harpsichord transcription of J. S. Bach’s Chaconne from BWV 1004.

Born in Brisbane in 1999, he moved to Spain in 2017 to study with Dmitri Bashkirov at the Escuela Superior de Música Reina Sofía in Madrid. Since then he has additionally received instruction from musicians such as Andreas Staier, András Schiff, and Pierre-Laurent Aimard.