Nicolas Achten
singing, lute and plucked strings, temperaments and tunings
"His baritone has the light of a tenor (...) the ear is captured by the liveliness of the words and the mobility of the notes (...) with this "natural" sounding voice, the da capo ornaments seem to come from pure instinct, guided by the affect of the moment (...) Bite into the text, it drips with flavour (...) uncommon qualities of fervour and fantasy". (Diapason Magazine).
A baritone, harpsichordist, lutenist, harpist and ensemble leader, Nicolas Achten (Brussels, b. 1985) made a name for himself in the world of early music at a very early age: he won the VIIth International Baroque Singing Competition in Chimay in 2006, was voted classical artist of the year in 2009 at the Octaves de la Musique and was awarded the "Young Musician of the Year 2009" prize by the Union de la presse musicale belge.
Nicolas Achten studied singing, lute, harpsichord, early harp and orchestral conducting at the Royal Conservatoires of Brussels and The Hague; he completed his training at various masterclasses, notably at the Académie baroque d'Ambronay and the Centre de la Voix de Royaumont.
Since 2004, he has been invited by prestigious early music ensembles, including l'Arpeggiata, la Fenice, La Petite Bande, Ausonia, les Agrémens, Akadêmia, Les Talens Lyriques, Il Fondamento, Les Musiciens du Louvre, Il Seminario Musicale, le Poème Harmonique, Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin, Ensemble Phoenix Munich, and under conductors such as Jean Tubéry, Sigiswald Kuijken, Marc Minkowski, Christophe Rousset and René Jacobs.
Today he is one of the rare classical singers to accompany himself, reviving the historical practice. Keen to pursue this approach and put his research into practice, he founded the ensemble Scherzi Musicali, whose concerts across Europe and 13 recordings have met with unanimous enthusiasm from audiences and the international press (Diapason d'or, Diapason découverte, Choc de Classica, Joker de Crescendo, La Clef de ResMusica, Prelude Classics Award, Muse d'Or, Ring de Classique Info, 'Outstanding' in the International Record Review, Prix Cæcilia, etc.).
On the side, Nicolas also explores atypical encounters, in a duo with folk accordionist Didier Laloy, or in a trio with jazz saxophonist Manu Hermia or pop/rock singer Kris Dane.
Nicolas Achten is full professor of early music singing and lute, and teaches temperaments and tunings at the Conservatoire Royal de Bruxelles. He was musical director of Muziektheater Transparant's summer courses from 2007 to 2015, and is regularly invited to give masterclasses throughout Europe (Operastudio Vlaanderen, SIMAW in Namur, University of East Anglia, the Yorke Trust in Norfolk, Conservatorio Milano, etc.).
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