Nicolas Achten baritone, chitarrone, colascione, harp, art. director

Baritone, harpsichordist, lutenist, harpist and conductor, Nicolas Achten made a name for himself in the world of early music at a very young age: laureate of the VII International Baroque Singing Competition of Chimay in 2006, he was elected classical artist of the year in 2009 at the Octaves de la musique award ceremony and received the “Young Musician of the Year Award 2009” from the Union of the Belgian Music Press.
 
Nicolas Achten studied singing, lute, harpsichord, ancient harp, and conducting at the Conservatoire royal de Bruxelles and the Conservatoire royal de la Haye; he completed his training in various masterclasses, notably at the Académie baroque european d’Ambronay and the Centre de la Voix de Royaumont.
 
He has been invited to perform with prestigious early music ensembles, including L’Arpeggiata, Ensemble La Fenice, La Petite Bande, Ensemble Ausonia, Les Agrémens, Akadêmia, Les Talens Lyriques, Il Fondamento, Les Musiciens du Louvre, Il Seminario Musicale, Le Poème Harmonique, the Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin, the Ensemble Phoenix Munich, and has worked under the direction of conductors such as Jean Tubéry, Sigiswald Kuijken, Marc Minkowski, Christophe Rousset, and René Jacobs.
 
Today, he is one of the few classical singers to accompany himself, reviving historical practice. Eager to deepen this approach and to put his research into practice, he founded the ensemble Scherzi Musicali, whose concerts throughout Europe and 13 recordings have aroused the unanimous enthusiasm of the public and the international press: Diapason d’or, Diapason découverte, Choc de Classica (Classica), Joker (Crescendo), La Clef (ResMusica), Prelude Classics Award, Muse d’or, Golden Ring (Classic Info), “Outstanding” in the International Record Review, Prix Cæcilia, etc.
 
In addition, Nicolas Achten explores atypical encounters, in a duo with folk accordionist Didier Laloy and in a trio with jazz saxophonist Manu Hermia or pop/rock singer Kris Dane.
 
Nicolas Achten is a professor of early music singing and lute and teaches applied early music theory at the Conservatoire royal de Bruxelles. He was musical director of the Muziektheater Transparant summer courses from 2007 to 2015 and is regularly invited to give masterclasses throughout Europe (Operastudio Vlaanderen, SIMAW in Namur, the University of East Anglia, the Yorke Trust in Norfolk, Conservatorio di Milano, etc.).