Biography

Growing up, never once did Nicole consider becoming a professional musician. As a child, she idolized the first female astronaut, Sally Ride, and desperately wanted to go to space, too. Apart from that, multiple career aptitude tests throughout her life overwhelmingly suggested that Nicole, lover of all things spooky, become a mortician or funeral director. Music and art, despite their constant presence in her life, never factored into the career equation for young Nicole.

​

Thankfully, life doesn’t always go according to plan. Dreams change. Fears of heights and tight spaces present themselves. Sixth-grade band directors choose painfully awkward students to play equally awkward instruments. Awkward students fall in love with awkward instruments and decide to become musicians. 

​

Today, shooting for different stars, Nicole Sonneveld is a successful freelance musician, educator and accomplished scholar whose analytical work has been presented at regional and international conferences. Always seeking a challenge, in 2020, Nicole completed a Master's of Music in Bassoon Performance at Roosevelt University where she became a proud bassoon disciple of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s Dennis Michel. Prior to her time with Maestro Michel, she also studied with three more wonderful teachers: Mr. Lewis Kirk of Chicago's Lyric Opera Orchestra, Dr. Staci Spring of the Chattanooga Symphony Orchestra and Ms. Dianne Ryan of the Elmhurst Symphony Orchestra.

​

Formerly, Nicole served as the Director of Operations and bassoonist for the Chicago-based chamber ensemble The Achelois Collective, a group of supremely talented female-identifying musicians and composers committed to advancing equity and representation within classical music while changing hearts and minds through thoughtful and provocative programming. During her tenure with the ensemble, Nicole not only served as a performer and core member, but also led contract negotiations and provided organizational support for the group's first residency at Linfield College in McMinnville, Oregon.

​

When she's not bassooning, you'll find Nicole baking breads or a number of other delicious confections at home with her husband and two fur-babies, Tux the Cat and Poppyseed the Dog.