A passionate, wholehearted performer known for her ”vibrant cello playing” (The WholeNote), cellist Erika Nielsen has a multi-faceted career as a chamber musician, collaborative artist, orchestral player, and educator. Erika brings focused, heartfelt playing to every performance, with a musicianship that spans from Baroque and Classical traditions to contemporary and popular genres. She is also the author of the multiple-award-winning and #1 bestselling memoir and wellness guide, Sound Mind.
As a collaborative artist, Erika has had the privilege of performing with Kanye West, and performed as part of the Dora-nominated ensemble for Onegin: The Musical in Toronto and Ottawa. During her recent 2022 season, Erika made her Soulpepper Theatre debut with The Golden Record.
As a chamber musician, Erika regularly performs as a solo and continuo player with Rezonance Baroque Ensemble, who’s debut album James Oswald: Airs for the Seasons was recorded on the Leaf Music label in May 2023. Erika was principal cello of the Sudbury Symphony Orchestra from 2011–13, and continues to lead cello sections with numerous orchestras across Ontario.
As a studio musician, Erika has performed on albums by a breadth of artists such as Born Ruffians, The Weather Station, and JUNO-winning children’s entertainers Splash’N Boots. She currently performs with Classic Albums Live and the 25-piece Toronto Motown band THE BIG SOUND, and tours throughout Ontario and the U.S. with the Supertramp tribute band DREAMER and the Electric Light Orchestra tribute band Strange Magic.
Born to a musical family in Lahr, Germany, and raised in Kingston, ON, Erika began her cello studies at the age of nine, later completing her Bachelor of Music at Queen’s University with Wolf Tormann and her Artist Diploma at the Glenn Gould School with David Hetherington. She has studied at numerous summer festivals such as Amherst Early Music Academy, The Banff Centre, le Domaine Forget, Toronto Summer Music, Schloss Beuggen International Music Festival in Germany, the Tafelmusik Baroque Summer Institute, and the Lunenburg Academy of Music Performance for Baroque specialization.
A passionate educator with a love for teaching cellists of all ages, levels, and abilities, Erika has been on faculty at National Music Camp of Canada since 2018 and the Miles Nadal JCC Suzuki Program in downtown Toronto since 2016. She maintains a busy private studio, coaches chamber music and group classes, and is an itinerant cello teacher for Branksome Hall and Havergal College. She is also a writer and has been a visual artist her entire life.
www.celloerika.com
@celloerika
