Jess Gillam

German-English pianist Nicholas Rimmer is passionately committed to exploring the piano in all its musical contexts, whether as solo instrument, in a large array of chamber music formations, accompanying voices or as a vehicle for improvisation. His musical training began as a child at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester studying piano, organ and conducting as a teenager, from where he went on to read Music at Clare College, Cambridge. There he held an organ scholarship and worked with conductors including Ivor Bolton, John Eliot Gardiner, René Jacobs and John Rutter. After moving to Germany he developed his studies with a wide range of musicians including Wolfram Rieger, Hatto Beyerle, the Alban Berg Quartet, Ferenc Rados whilst embarking on a successful career as a pianist with a particular focus on chamber music.

Nicholas Rimmer has performed at many prestigious venues such as Wigmore Hall London, Gasteig Munich, Tonhalle Zürich and the Berlin Philharmonie. As a soloist he has appeared with the NDR Radiophilharmonie Hanover, Hamburg Symphony Orchestra, Manchester Camerata, CHAARTS Chamber Orchestra and Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra. He has been a regular guest at many of Europe’s most renowned music festivals including Aldeburgh, Schleswig-Holstein, Schwetzingen, Ludwigsburg, Grafenegg, Hitzacker, Heidelberger Frühling, Lucerne Festival and Boswiler Musiksommer. In the coming season he will undertake tours of USA and Switzerland with Trio Gaspard and perform at the Lockenhaus Festival, Festspiele Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and the Salzburger Festspiele.

Among his many award-winning recordings are several with violist Nils Mönkemeyer (ECHO-Klassik Prize 2009). His CD of the complete works for violin and piano by Wolfgang Rihm with Tianwa Yang received the Diapason d’Or, the Pizzicato Supersonic Award and an International Record Review ‘Outstanding’ Award. Nicholas Rimmer’s CD of piano works by Richard Strauss includes a world premiere recording of one of the composer’s works. 2020 coincides with the release of a new solo album of works by Muzio Clementi on one of Clementi’s own instruments, reflecting his interest in performance practice and in the historical development of the piano.

Nicholas Rimmer plays in several ensembles: the Trio Gaspard (with Jonian Ilias Kadesha, violin and Vashti Hunter, cello) was founded in 2010 and has been described as ‘richly coloured, honest and full of joy…belongs to another league!’ by Ensemble magazine.
The unique Trio Belli-Fischer-Rimmer blends trombone, percussion and piano and has been acclaimed for its ‘virtuosity coupled with boundless creativity , and raised to a power of three’ (Braunschweiger Zeitung) in programmes covering Bach to Broadway, Weill to Tom Waits, Debussy, Piazzolla and all manner of contemporary sounds.

Nicholas Rimmer has formed a duo partnerships with violinist Tianwa Yang and cellist Gabriel Schwabe for several years, which are documented by CD recordings of Brahms, Schumann and Wolfgang Rihm. Amongst his many other regular collaborators are Nicolas Altstaedt, Maximilian Hornung, Feng Ning, Sebastian Manz and Quatuor Hermès. He also pursues an interest in improvisation and has realised several live silent movie projects with percussionist Johannes Fischer.

As an active song accompanist he has worked with Philip Langridge, Christiane Iven, Simon Bode, Ronan Collett, Anna Lucia Richter, Katharina Konradi and many others. Together with his colleagues Katharina Persicke and Georg Gädker he founded a series of song recitals known as Klangwerk Lied – in Freiburg.

Nicholas Rimmer has held teaching posts for chamber music at major music conservatories in Hanover, Frankfurt and Manchester, and has given masterclasses in China and Japan. As of 2019, Nicholas Rimmer holds a position as Professor of Piano at Freiburg Conservatory of Music. Currently, during the pause in concert life caused by the Coronavirus outbreak, he has been performing at a local care home for the elderly and devoting his time to online teaching.