Nicholas Milne began his viola da gamba studies in Ireland with Sarah Cunningham. This inspired him to pursue a career performing on the viola da gamba taking him to study at the Royal Conservatory The Hague with Wieland Kuijken and Philipe Pierlot obtaining a Masters degree in performance in 2005. He received a bursary from the Arts Council of Ireland for this study. In 2004 Nicholas was invited by Wieland Kuijken to perform with him in a concert to honour his long and distinguished teaching career at The Royal Conservatory, The Hague.

Nicholas is in frequent demand as both a soloist and chamber musician. He performs and records with many leading European ensembles including Capriccio Stravagante, Collegium Vocale Gent, Les Arts Florrisants, Concert D’Astree, Arcangelo, Pygmalion, Gli Angeli Geneve, Sit Fast and The Hathor Consort. Nicholas can be heard on numerous CD recordings and there are many more on the way! 

Alongside his busy performing career Nicholas is also increasingly in demand as a teacher on a number of courses throughout Europe.

In 2010 Nicholas was the recipient of The Music Capital award from the Music Network and Arts Council of Ireland. This generous award allows him to play on a very rare original viol by Joachim Tielke from 1707.

Nicholas has a passionate interest in discovering, editing and performing music for the Lyra viol, leading him to found his own ensemble The Puncke’s Delight in 2019. The Puncke’s Delight made its debut with a tour of The Netherlands for the prestigious chamber music series of the Festival Oude Muziek.

Nicholas now lives in Utrecht, The Netherlands.