Nicolas Hodges

Pianist Nicolas Hodges is an important specialist in contemporary music, having collaborated closely with composers, including <a href="spotify:artist:1LqZaxmZNvkNyC5FaICGkW">Wolfgang Rihm</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:6pEGmbFzId5sPVywqzZQdy">Harrison Birtwistle</a>. He is also a noted educator.

Hodges was born in London in 1970. His mother was a member of the <a href="spotify:artist:6JP6LrgvTOWrGZvgGOjCwM">BBC Singers</a>, his father a BBC studio manager and amateur musician. He attended Christ Church Cathedral School in Oxford, where he made his performing debut as a boy treble in the <a href="spotify:artist:5QmgloMl18ljj1oOwben4T">Christ Church Cathedral Choir</a>. He went on to Winchester College and then to Cambridge and Bristol Universities. His teachers included Susan Bradshaw and Sulamita Aronovsky; he also studied song accompaniment with <a href="spotify:artist:5XVtByLJ0QFGXg7MwG0YKZ">Roger Vignoles</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:3x9SScXuqC40Sq6j4hpXCC">Geoffrey Parsons</a> and composition with <a href="spotify:artist:2tsOm9CPRD4SbZagsqAhj4">Michael Finnissy</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:47KSnUuqxzvvvXsjiWj8QN">Robin Holloway</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:2oaB91yB6t8huanVdvYQRr">Alexander Goehr</a>. Hodges has performed with many major orchestras and has returned multiple times to several of them, including the <a href="spotify:artist:23BiSNXm5UaRFuusoWisYO">BBC Symphony</a>, the <a href="spotify:artist:0K23lQ2hSQAlxSEeZ05bjI">Boston Symphony</a>, and the <a href="spotify:artist:1XoXD9qLXeOBK6CtR2bbZQ">Frankfurt Radio Symphony</a>. He is best known for his close relationships with major contemporary composers. Among these are <a href="spotify:artist:6pEGmbFzId5sPVywqzZQdy">Birtwistle</a>, who called Hodges his <a href="spotify:artist:2B4N612xGjNj2cAAYsP4MO">Peter Pears</a> (referring to the pianist/vocalist who championed <a href="spotify:artist:7MJ1pB5d6Vjmzep2zQlorn">Benjamin Britten</a>'s music), <a href="spotify:artist:1LqZaxmZNvkNyC5FaICGkW">Rihm</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:3X2fwmmbjJ9V42SLAtl12X">Salvatore Sciarrino</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:4E8IYlLszov2INdjPUZXfr">Rebecca Saunders</a>. Hodges also premiered the 2003 piano concerto Dialogues by <a href="spotify:artist:7IqwNdpG9USkkEH36pkKEB">Elliott Carter</a>, and he has performed music by many other contemporary composers, including <a href="spotify:artist:1Ypd2wLcUoQ7v5iH7yrWDm">Brian Ferneyhough</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:35OhI7DSls022v9Bz9r0VZ">John Adams</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:3rwXUAL1mCPOxbKO4Jcxhq">Beat Furrer</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:05HRoAzjR1LdHRSC9SQiV9">Pascal Dusapin</a>, as well as works of Beethoven and other compositions from the traditional classical repertory.

Hodges has made more than 25 recordings, beginning with Bill Hopkins: Complete Piano Music on <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Col+Legno%22">Col Legno</a> in 2000. He has recorded for <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Kairos%22">Kairos</a>, <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Wergo%22">Wergo</a>, <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Nonesuch%22">Nonesuch</a>, and many other labels. On <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Bridge%22">Bridge</a>, he was heard performing Dialogues in a 2005 recording of concertos by Carter. Hodges' recorded output was exclusively concentrated on contemporary music until 2020 when he released A Bag of Bagatelles, which included bagatelles by Beethoven as well as <a href="spotify:artist:6pEGmbFzId5sPVywqzZQdy">Birtwistle</a>.