Nicole Forsyth
Resume
Violist, Nicole Forsyth grew up in Sydney playing violin and viola; loves storytelling through music, and the possibilities of old and new art telling stories across time. She would like to acknowledge the Elders, past, present and emerging of Cammeraygal, Gadigal and Darug Country/Sydney on which she lives and works.
With a 25 year Australian career in both historically informed performance and new music, Nicole has worked most of the HIP companies on the east coast of Australia; Ironwood, Van Diemen’s Band, Latitude 37, Bach Akademie Australia, The Muffat Collective, Australian Haydn Ensemble, ARCO, Australian Brandenburg Orchestra, Ludovico’s Band; and the major festivals in Australia. On the flip side she has collaborated with numerous Australian composers & creators to create or perform new work for both the mainstage and with communities around Australia.
Nicole’s multi-stranded career in historic performance, new music, teaching artistry, orchestral and chamber music has featured work for Big hART Inc (the award winning play Namatjira; and North West Tasmanian project with communities The Acoustic Life of Sheds for Ten Days on the Island 2015), Bundanon Trust (Bundanon Local 60 + Performance ), Musica Viva Australia Chamber Festival, Moorambilla Voices, The Song Company, Halcyon, Ensemble Offspring, Sydney Chamber Choir, Biennale of Sydney, Sydney Living Museums, Sydney Childrens' Choir, Soft Soft Loud-Fremantle Arts Centre.
Nicole co-founded Ironwood in 2006, working with them until 2015, at the cutting edge of HIP performance research and education nationally. She was Principal Viola for Orchestra of the Antipodes-Pinchgut Opera 2001-2015. She is currently Artistic Curator of BachBand@StJames, resident at the 1819 Macquarie-era Sydney church, St James King St, which holds regular Bach Cantata services. It also has a commissioning program for new work on historic instruments, working with the Choir of St ames in livestream and live contexts. Her discography as principal & solo viola includes recordings for ABC Classics, BIS, Sony, Vexations840 and Tall Poppies.
Nicole started professional orchestral life with the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra, ACO, Adelaide Symphony, Orchestra Victoria & AOBO for Opera Australia, and continues to enjoy modern orchestral work with Sydney Symphony.
She teaches viola at Abbotsleigh School, Wahroonga, for NSW Department of Education The Arts Unit, and lectures in the Historical Performance Division at Sydney Conservatorium of Music. Her current PhD, with Sydney Living Museums, looks at the music collection of Rouse Hill House & Farm 1813-1986, on Dharug country, north western Sydney. She was a 2019 Artist-in-Residence at Bundanon Trust, on Wodi-Wodi/Wandandian country, NSW, and has been a recipient of a Sydney University Vice-Chancellor’s Travel Scholarship in 2020.