Originally from Fredericton, New Brunswick, Nicolas Richard is delighted to return to the Maritimes to serve as Principal Bassoon of Symphony Nova Scotia in the 2026/27 season. He was previously Associate Principal Bassoon of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, and has held positions with the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony and the Niagara Symphony Orchestra. In demand as an orchestral player, he has performed with Canada’s National Arts Centre Orchestra, the Canadian Opera Company, the National Ballet of Canada, and the Windsor and Quebec Symphony Orchestras, among others.

Nicolas has appeared as a soloist with the NAC Orchestra, the Ottawa Symphony Orchestra, and the University of Ottawa Orchestra. He won first prize in the NAC Orchestra Bursary Competition and the Ottawa Symphony’s Sénécal-Mozart Competition, second prize in the Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal Competition, and has received awards supporting his studies from the Sylva Gelber Music Foundation and the O’Brien Foundation. As a student, he spent summers at the Music Academy of the West, the National Repertory Orchestra, the National Academy Orchestra, and the National Youth Orchestra of Canada.

Nicolas holds a Master of Music from Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music, where he studied with Benjamin Kamins, and a Bachelor of Music from the University of Ottawa, where his teachers were Christopher Millard and Richard Hoenich. He is a passionate student of the Alexander Technique, studying with Susan Sinclair. He serves on the board of the Council of Canadian Bassoonists.