Altstaedt regularly performs on period instruments with ensembles such as Il Giardino Armonico with Giovanni Antonini, B’Rock with René Jacobs, Orchestre des Champs-Elysées with Philippe Herreweghe, Freiburger Barockorchester, and Arcangelo with Jonathan Cohen. As a conductor, he has forged close partnerships with the Australian Chamber Orchestra and Münchener Kammerorchester, where he returns this season. In 2026/27, he is also Artist in Residence at Maison de la Radio et de la Musique Radio France, Artistic Partner of Gävle Symphony Orchestra, and continues his three-year tenure as Artist in Association with Tapiola Sinfonietta. He will tour with the Budapest Festival Orchestra (Iván Fischer) and Scottish Chamber Orchestra (Maxim Emelyanychev), return to the Münchner Philharmoniker, Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra and BBC Philharmonic, and make his conducting debut with the Sinfónica de Galicia.
Joint appearances with composers such as Thomas Adès, Jörg Widmann, Fazıl Say and Sofia Gubaidulina have consolidated his reputation as an outstanding interpreter of contemporary music. Wolfgang Rihm (Duo for Soprano and Cello, 2021), Jörg Widmann (Albumblätter and Schwester Tod), and Thomas Larcher (Duo for Violin and Violoncello) have written works for him. Nicolas has also commissioned concertos by Raphaël Merlin (2016), Helena Winkelman and Sebastian Fagerlund (2019), Anders Hillborg (2020), Fazıl Say (2021), Márton Illés (2023), Erkki-Sven Tüür (2024) and Malika Kishino (2025). Composed for him in 2024, Liza Lim’s cello concerto A Sutured World was described in a 5‑star review in Limelight as “destined to become a signature work of the cello repertoire”. In 2026/27, Altstaedt premieres new concertos by Francesca Verunelli (SWR Sinfonieorchester/Roth) and Miroslav Srnka (NHK Symphony Orchestra/Emelyanychev), with further concerto premieres by Enno Poppe, Outi Tarkiainen and Olli Mustonen to follow in coming seasons.
In 2012 Altstaedt succeeded Gidon Kremer as Artistic Director of the Lockenhaus Chamber Music Festival, and from 2014 to 2021 he was Artistic Director of Haydn Philharmonie at the Ésterházy Palace, succeeding Ádám Fischer and touring with the orchestra to Japan and China. His chamber music partners include Lawrence Power, Ilya Gringolts, Mao Fujita, Maxim Emelyanychev, Alexander Lonquich, Thomas Dunford, Jean Rondeau, Quatuor Ébène and Belcea Quartet. He regularly performs at major festivals including Salzburg, Verbier, BBC Proms, Lucerne, Edinburgh, Prague Spring, and Musikfest Bremen.
Recent recordings for Alpha include Heavenly Lights with Ian Bostridge/Olli Mustonen, Blackbirds – a 1960s sonic exploration of radical classical masterworks, featuring Bacewicz’s Cello Concerto No.2 (Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra/Emelyanychev) – and Marton Illés’ Cello Concerto (Münchener Kammerorchester/Wiegers). The premiere recording of Hillborg’s Cello Concerto was also released on BIS in 2026. Earlier releases include A Sutured World (2025, BR Klassik) and an Alpha Classics recording of chamber works by Veress and Bartók, which won both the BBC Music Magazine Chamber Award and the Gramophone Classical Music Award in 2020. His recordings have also earned BBC Music Magazine’s Concerto Award (2017, CPE Bach Concertos with Arcangelo and Jonathan Cohen on Hyperion) and the AFAS Edison Klassiek Award (2017, with Fazıl Say on Warner Classics). Previous accolades include the Credit Suisse Award (2010), BBC New Generation Artist (2010 – 12), the Beethovenring Bonn (2015), and the Musikpreis der Stadt Duisburg (2018).
