Biography
Alexander Nicholls is an award-winning cellist and musicologist specialising in eighteenth-century music, historically informed performance, and galant schema theory. He completed his PhD at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna in 2025 under the supervision of Professor Clive Brown, with research focused on the musical collections and cello performance practices of King Friedrich Wilhelm II of Prussia. A graduate of The Juilliard School, the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, and the University of Western Australia, Nicholls performs and records internationally with leading period-instrument ensembles. He is also co-founder, with Jonathan Salamon, of the international Galant Schema Studies conference series.
Academic Degrees
-
Doctor of Philosophy – Musicology – 2025 – Universität für Musik und darstellende Kunst, Wien – Vienna, Austria
-
Master of Music, Baroque Violoncello – 2016 – The Juilliard School New York, United States of America
-
Bachelor of Music Studies (Honours Class I), Musicology – 2013 – Sydney Conservatorium of Music – Sydney, Australia
-
Bachelor of Music Performance, Violoncello – 2012 – The University of Western Australia – Perth, Australia
Recordings
-
Georg Philip Telemann: Ino, Opera Arias for Soprano (2026 GRAMMY Award Winner – Best Classical Solo Vocal Album), Amanda Forsythe, Boston Early Music Festival Orchestra, Paul O’Dette, Stephen Stubbs, Robert Mealy, CPO, Bremen 2024
-
Johann Gottlieb Janitsch: Janitsch Church Sonatas, Berlin Friday Academy, Brilliant Classics, Berlin 2022
-
Kowar, Helmut: Kleemeyer 170. Dittersdorf, Haydn, Martín y Soler und Pleyel auf den zwölf Walzen der Flötenuhr Nr. 170 von Christian Ernst Kleemeyer, Berlin. Göttingen 2022 Cuvillier
-
Johann Gottlieb Janitsch: Janitsch Trio Sonatas, Berlin Friday Academy, Brilliant Classics, Berlin 2020
-
Christoph Graupner: Antiochus und Stratonica, Boston Early Music Festival Orchestra, CPO, Bremen 2019
-
Georg Friedrich Handel: Almira, Boston Early Music Festival Orchestra, CPO, Bremen 2018
-
Samuel Scheidt: Cantiones Sacrae Motetten, Athesinus Consort, Carus, Berlin 2018