Biography

Born in 2002 in South Korea, Nikolai Song began his musical journey at the age of five in Singapore. At just thirteen, he entered the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris, becoming one of its youngest students, where he studied with Philippe Bernold and Florence Delepine Souchard. He later earned both Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees, while continuing his artistic development at the Internationale Musikakademie Liechtenstein, taking part in masterclasses with Patrick Gallois, Stéphane Réty, Julien Beaudiment, Stephanie Winker, Sébastian Jacot, and Marc Hantaï. In 2025, he completed his Soloist Master’s diploma at the Haute École de Musique de Genève in the class of Jacques Zoon.

Since his early years at the Paris Conservatory, Nikolai has gained international recognition for his artistry, including the ICMA Discovery Award (International Classical Music Awards). He has appeared as a soloist with l’Orchestre National de Cannes, Odense Symphony Orchestra, Basque National Orchestra (Euskadiko Orkestra), the Barcelona Baroque Orchestra at the Festival Pablo Casals, and the Orchestra of the Haute École de Musique de Genève.

A passionate orchestral musician, Nikolai currently holds a temporary position as Principal Flute of the Berner Symphonieorchester in Switzerland, and in the summer of 2025, he was a member of the Verbier Festival Orchestra. Prior to that, at age eighteen, he was appointed Associate Principal Flute of the Sinfonieorchester Basel for the 2022–23 season.

He has also appeared as guest principal with the Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich, Philharmonisches Staatsorchester Hamburg, Zürcher Kammerorchester, Sinfonieorchester St. Gallen, and Orchestre des Pays de Savoie, as well as tutti flute with the Beethoven Philharmonie of Vienna, and l’Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France. He has collaborated with distinguished conductors including Barbara Hannigan, Theodor Currentzis, Manfred Honeck, Andrés Orozco-Estrada, Klaus Mäkelä, Krzysztof Urbanski, Paavo Järvi, Heinz Holliger and Andrea Battistoni.

An avid chamber musician, Nikolai co-founded the wind quintet Quintette Pentagone in 2020, completing a chamber music degree at the Paris Conservatory under Michel Moragues. The ensemble has performed at major festivals such as Les Folles Journées de Nantes, the Fontainebleau American Conservatory Festival, Lyon Printemps Musical, Les Journées Ravel, and Festival Jeunes Talents.

Alongside his modern flute activities, Nikolai is deeply engaged in historical performance practice. A self-taught player of flutes from the Baroque to the Romantic era, he later pursued formal studies in Jan de Winne’s class at the Paris Conservatory. He has performed with ensembles such as Les Ombres at the Festival d’Ambronay and Concerto Soave at the Royal Chapel of Versailles. His master’s research thesis focuses on the development of the flute’s organology and repertoire at the Paris Conservatory from Berlioz’s Symphonie Fantastique to Debussy’s Prélude à l’Après-midi d’un faune (1830–1894).

Outside of music, Nikolai is an enthusiastic sportsman both on and off the field. He is a medalist in national junior fencing championships (épée) and a passionate football fan, spending much of his free time following and studying the sport.