Nicholas Penfold

Born into a musical family, Nicholas is a native of Christchurch, New Zealand, and began learning violin at age four with the Suzuki method.

While under the mentorship of preeminent New Zealand violin teacher Stephen Larsen, Nicholas commenced his education at the University of Canterbury, New Zealand and went on to graduate from the Queensland Conservatorium, Griffith University in the Advanced Performance Program with Academic Excellence under the esteemed tutelage of Associate Professor Michele Walsh and QSO’s Associate Concertmaster Alan Smith. As an orchestral musician, Nicholas has toured extensively throughout South America, the USA, Canada, Australia and New Zealand performing with orchestras including the New Zealand and Australian Youth Orchestras, the Christchurch, Dunedin and Adelaide Symphony Orchestras, and Camerata - Queensland’s Chamber Orchestra. In 2010 Nicholas moved to Malaysia, where he took up a position as an educator, teaching young violinists. During this time he attained distinction with the highest result in South East Asia upon completion of his Licentiate of the Royal Schools of Music, London and was chosen to perform as a soloist at the graduation ceremony in Singapore. After returning to Australia, Nicholas began performing with the QSO in 2015 and became a permanent member of the orchestra in 2018. 

Nicholas loves the orchestral repertoire. Tchaikovsky’s 6th and Rachmaninov’s 2nd Symphonies, as well as Prokofiev’s ballet Romeo and Juliet are among his favourite pieces of music to perform. Away from the violin, Nicholas is an avid reader and loves to ski.