Caroline Nicolas

Hailed as a “bright new gamba star” (The Strad magazine), Canadian cellist and viol player Caroline Nicolas enjoys an international career performing repertoire from the Middle Ages to the 21st century. She performs regularly with leading ensembles across Europe and North America, including The English Concert, Philharmonia Baroque, Kammerorchester Basel, Ars Lyrica Houston, Pacific MusicWorks, and New World Symphony. She recently completed her tenure as Music Director of New Baroque Orchestra and now serves as Artistic Director of Ars Poetica. Nicolas has appeared at the Boston Early Music Festival, Bach Festival Leipzig, and Styriarte, and in venues including the Berliner Philharmonie, Carnegie Hall, Alice Tully Hall, and KKL Luzern. 

The magazine Gramophone praised her debut solo album, Pièces en solitude, for its “understated beauty,” noting that her performances “judge the music’s elasticity of form and tempo to perfection.” The recording was also featured in The Strad, Strings Magazine, and Early Music America. 

A Fellow of The English Concert in America and winner of The Juilliard School's Historical Performance Concerto Competition, Nicolas has taught at Yale University, the Peabody Conservatory, and the University of Washington. She studied at The Juilliard School and the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis and now resides in New York City. More information is available at www.carolinenicolas.com.

Lutenist Kevin Payne is active as a recitalist, accompanist, and continuo player. Recent ensemble work includes performances with Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, Seattle Symphony, Twelfth Night, Blue Heron, Handel and Haydn Society, and Bach Collegium San Diego. Festival appearances include Caramoor, Tanglewood, Spoleto, and Newport Classical. Performance venues include Carnegie Hall, Alice Tully Hall, the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., the National Concert Hall in Taipei, Taiwan, the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, and the Festspielhaus in Baden-Baden, Germany. His playing has been broadcast on several nationally syndicated radio programs including Sunday Baroque and Performance Today. 

When not performing, Payne enjoys cooking, reading, and watching Star Trek (P’Tach!) as well as attempting to delay the inevitable (and often imminent) demise of the houseplants he shares with his wife, cellist Caroline Nicolas.