Biography

Born in Sydney, Nick Byrne completed his Bachelor's degree at the Canberra School of Music in 1991. He subsequently undertook further postgraduate study with Charles Vernon at De-Paul University in Chicago. His other teachers have included Simone de Haan, Ian Perry, Ron Prussing, Arnold Jacobs and Michael Mulcahy.

Nick Byrne joined the Sydney Symphony Orchestra in 1996, prior to which he held the position of Solo Trombone with the Hofer Symphoniker in Germany. He has performed with the Australian Chamber Orchestra, Australian Opera and Ballet Orchestra, Chicago Chamber Orchestra, Civic Orchestra of Chicago, and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and in 1994 was chosen by Sir Georg Solti for his Carnegie Hall Festival Orchestra.

Nick Byrne has also performed with Summit Brass, Millar Brass, Chicago Symphony Lower Brass Ensemble, Canberra Trombone Quartet (prize winner at the UMI Chamber Music Competition in Arizona, 1993), and is a founding member of the Sydney Symphony Brass Ensemble.

He is also a recognised performer on the ophicleide (an early keyed tuba) and has performed with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, Australian Chamber Orchestra, World Orchestra for Peace (Moscow and St Petersburg, 2003) and in solo recitals at the Melbourne International Festival of Brass (2003 and 2009).

In 2002, Nick Byrne was the recipient of a Churchill Fellowship which allowed him to undertake ophicleide studies in Lyon, France, and in 2006 he recorded the world's first solo ophicleide recording Back from Oblivion.