Nicolas Cords

viola

For more than two decades, omnivorous violist Nicholas Cords has been on the front line of a growing constellation of projects as a performer, educator, and cultural advocate. As former Co-Artistic director of Silkroad, viola and chamber music faculty member at New England Conservatory, and violist of Brooklyn Rider, he is deeply committed to music from a broad variety of traditions and epochs, with a particular passion for the cross-section between the long tradition of classical music and the wide range of music of today. Nicholas serves currently as violist of the Silkroad Ensemble, a musical collective founded by Yo-Yo Ma in 2000 with the simple belief that radical cross-cultural collaboration leads to a more hopeful world. Another key aspect of Nicholas’ busy musical life is as a founding member of Brooklyn Rider, an intrepid group which NPR credits with “recreating the 300-year-old form of the string quartet as a vital and creative 21st-century ensemble.” In a short amount of time, Brooklyn Rider’s singular mission and gripping performance style have resulted in an indelible contribution to the world of the string quartet and has brought in legions of fans across the spectrum.