Milton served as Chief Conductor and Artistic Director of the Dubrovnik Symphony Orchestra from 2000-2004, and made his US debut in 2005 with the Phoenix Symphony. His Australian conducting engagements include regular appearances with all of the major Australian orchestras. In the past season, he appeared with the Canberra, Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide and Tasmanian Symphony Orchestras, and the Queensland Orchestra.
Originally a violinist, Nicholas Milton graduated from the Sydney Conservatorium of Music with the Performance Diploma. He moved to the USA in 1986 to take up an appointment as Visiting Scholar at Michigan State University and subsequently taught at Boston University. He moved to New York to study at the Juilliard School and the Mannes College of Music and there founded the Metropolis Chamber Orchestra and was Artist in Residence at the City University of New York. Milton holds Master’s degrees in Violin, Orchestral Conducting, Music Theory, and Philosophy, and a Doctoral degree in Music from the City University of New York.
Nicholas Milton won Symphony Australia’s 1999 Young Conductor of the Year competition and was a prizewinner in the 1999 Lovro von Matacic International Conductors’ Competition. In 2000 he was appointed Permanent Guest Conductor of the Zagreb Philharmonic Orchestra and was also awarded the Sir Charles Mackerras Conducting Prize in London. In 2003, Dr. Nicholas Milton was awarded the Australian Centenary Medal, for Service to Australian Society and the Advancement of Music.
Significant musical appointments, in addition to his position as Artistic Director of the Canberra Symphony Orchestra, include the following positions: General Music Director, Jena Philharmonic Orchestra, Germany (2003-present); Chief Conductor and Artistic Director, Dubrovnik Symphony Orchestra, Croatia (2000-2004); Chief Conductor, Willoughby Symphony Orchestra, Sydney (2001-present); Associate Conductor, Adelaide Symphony Orchestra (2001-2002); Permanent Guest Conductor, Zagreb Philharmonic Orchestra (2000-2001); Concertmaster, Adelaide Symphony Orchestra (1996-2002); Artist-in-Residence, City University of New York (1993-1997); and Violinist, Macquarie Trio Australia (1998-2005).
Nicholas Milton is also a devoted interpreter of opera, and served as Artistic Director of the Bel Canto Opera Company of South Australia from 2000-2003. In 2006 he conducted a new production of Mozart’s Marriage of Figaro in Germany. Other credits include Don Giovanni, Rossini’s Barber of Seville, and Donizetti’s Elixir of Love and Don Pasquale. In 2007 he conducted Franz Schmidt`s masterpiece, Das Buch mit sieben Siegeln, at the German National Theater in Weimar. Other 2007 productions included Humperdinck’s Hansel and Gretel, Dvorak’s Rusalka, and a new production of Don Giovanni.
Nicholas Milton’s discography includes Mendelssohn’s complete works for violin on the Naxos label. With Macquarie Trio Australia, he has recorded the complete piano trios of Schubert, Brahms and Dvorak, a Beethoven disc, and a Piazzolla disc for ABC Classics. He also made 6 discs of Haydn String Quartets as first violinist of the New York-based Bedford String Quartet. Two forthcoming ABC Classics releases include a disc of Australian Romantic works, with Milton conducting the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra and an opera highlights CD. With the Dubrovnik Symphony Orchestra, Milton has recorded the complete symphonies of Luka Sorkočević and a New Year’s Gala. |
