Gordan Nikolić

Nikolić was born in 1968 in present-day Serbia. At age seven, he began playing the violin. Two years later, he went to a boarding school for violin lessons. He continued his studies with Jean-Jacques Kantorow at the Musikhochschule in Basel. There he immersed himself in the baroque violin, but also worked with modern composers such as Lutosławski and Kurtág. In 1989, he received his first appointment as concertmaster with the Orchestre d'Auvergne. From 1997 through 2017, he held the same position with the London Symphony Orchestra. There he worked with top conductors such as Colin Davis, Claudio Abbado, Valeri Gergiev and Bernard Haitink.

Nikolić does not stand as conductor for the Netherlands Chamber Orchestra, but leads the musicians from the first lectern. This is because he does not want to subject the other orchestra members to his authority. He believes it is important to preserve your own musical vision, and to bring it out in the music you play. He himself says, “I'm not there to tell the other musicians what to do. I try to give an energetic or emotional direction, and then we try to find a common language.' He has since worked with the orchestra on several special productions and has made several successful CD recordings.

In recent years, Nikolić has been a guest concertmaster with orchestras such as Manchester Camerata, the Antwerp Symphony Orchestra and the Australian Chamber Orchestra. Since 2007 he has been in charge of the Spain-based BandArt, an orchestra dedicated to social commitment. In addition to his activities as a violinist and orchestra leader, Nikolić teaches at the Paris Conservatoire, the Hochschule für musik in Saarbrücken and Codarts in Rotterdam.