Masterclass in Merza, Spain

In the teaching field Nick started to teach at the Hilversum Conservatorium of Music in 1989. Together with Victor Oskam he ran the classical percussion department and took the orchestral section under his wings. Students from this period are now players in the Radio Symphony Orchestra, Dutch Marine Wind band, Circle Ensemble and the Slagwerkgroep Den Haag. In 1992 he combined his work at this college with the Utrecht Conservatory of Music as Timpani tutor. When his commitment to the Sweelinck Conservatorium [ in 1999, renamed "Amsterdam Conservatory of Music"] started in 1996, as Senior Tutor of Timpani the number of students made him resign from the other colleges, due to lack of time. Since then a large number of Dutch and foreign students have experienced his lessons and in return given him a lot of new insights from their own backgrounds and personalities. Former students now hold positions at the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, the Iceland Symphony Orchestra, the Residentie Orchestra of The Hague, the Rotterdam Phil, the Metropole Orchestra, the Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra, Philharmonic Orchestra of Barcelona, Holland Symphonia, Orchestra Maggio Musicale Florence, Orchestra's of Oviedo, Bilbao, Pamplona, the band of the Dutch Airforce, the Macao Symphony, Orchestra Maggio Musicale Firenze, etc. Both his private students as well as those of the Conservatory have repeatedly been chosen for the ECYO, The GMYO, and the Schleswig-Holstein and Tanglewood festivals.
Also in a teaching capacity Nick has been director of studies of the National Youth Orchestra of the Netherlands for a number of years and he is as such, a member of the audition committees for the international youth orchestras. Master classes have been given on a number of occasions in Spain . With his teaching Nick developed three study books. Out of the need to find material that can be used to give the student a fearless attitude towards the use of the pedals in all circumstances, he wrote Musical studies for Pedal Timpani in 1983, [will be re-published shortly].
To let the student experience the feeling of the repertoire, combined with interpretation and with little tips on playing in general, Symphonic Studies for Timpani was written in 1999 and published later that year. The latest book is The Timpani Challenge

Masterclass in Washington, University of Maryland

With thanks to John Tafoya of the National Symphony

Final exam in Amsterdam