Described by The New York Times as agile, compelling and irresistible, Antwerp-based guitarist Nico Couck (b. 1988) started playing the instrument at age 15. In 2013 he obtained his master’s degree at the Royal Conservatoire of Antwerp with Roland Broux. He won several awards at Radio Klara Festival, Laboratorium III (ChampdAction), and the International Lions Music Competition. In 2014 he was awarded a Kranichsteiner Stipendienpreise for interpretation by the Internationales Musikinstitut Darmstadt. His repertoire varies from Baroque to contemporary music with a dedicated focus on present-day developments in music.
In addition to concerts throughout Europe and the U.S., he performed at the Internationale Ferienkurse für Neue Musik Darmstadt, Warsaw Autumn, Acht Brücken Festival, MaerzMusik, ISCM World Music Days, Transit Festival, Ars Musica, Musica Sacra, and many others. Past performances have been broadcasted on WDR3, Radio Klara and others. He has collaborated with Oscar Bianchi, Chaya Czernowin, Jason Eckardt, Clemens Gadenstaetter, Johannes Kreidler, Stefan Prins, Eva Reiter, Simon Steen-Andersen, Steven Takasugi, Serge Verstockt, amongst several others. Besides his activities as a soloist, Nico Couck is a freelance musician in several ensembles such as Ictus, Nadar, Talea, Hermes, SWR Experimentalstudio Ensemble, and is artist-in-residence at ChampdAction.
Nico Couck currently is section chair person of plucked instruments at the Royal Conservatoire of Antwerp.
Website: www.nicocouck.com
Courses: Section chair person plucked instruments, Chamber music, Music history, Research