THE NANO SYMPHONY

Led by co-artistic directors Neil and Catherine Thompson, The Nano Symphony are Australia’s alternative classical ensemble made up of multi-instrumentalists, composers and producers. For most performances they are joined by dear friend and concert pianist Lee Akinsanya (nee Cheong).

​In early 2020 The Nano Symphony accompanied Joep Beving live in the Sydney Opera House for two sold-out shows to great acclaim. They accompanied Luke Howard, Peter Gregson, Sibeal (Ireland) and Double Touch at the inaugural ZoneOut Festival as well as Halsey and Yungblud for their massively popular Like A Version performance of Death Cab For Cutie’s ‘I Will Follow You Into The Dark’ (which currently has over 12 million views).

​With their debut single ‘Night Air’ being described as ‘fantastic.. a beautiful piece of music!’ (Studio 301) The Nano Symphony weave live string and wind instruments together with piano and expressive electronics for a breath-taking live experience.

​Past projects include “HIVE”, released in June 2017 and released through label Kammerklang, which was composed by Peggy Polias through her Peter Sculthorpe Fellowship. 

​Neil and Catherine Thompson’s individual professional performing careers have seen them perform as soloists as well as with the likes of Omega Ensemble, Caro String Quartet, Australian Chamber Orchestra, Adelaide, Melbourne, Tasmanian and Sydney Symphony Orchestras and the Opera Australia Orchestra on major stages both nationally and internationally; also sharing the stage with a slew of global icons including The Cat Empire, Nico Muhly, Pekka Kuusisto, Kristian Winther, Richard Tognetti, Dmitry Sitkovetsky, Dimitri Ashkenazy, Brett Dean, Lisa Moore, Simone Young, Il Divo and the Ten Tenors.

Neil is a conductor who held the post of Music Director and Chief Conductor of the Ku-ring Gai Youth Orchestra. He has conducted symphony orchestras in Sydney and Adelaide.

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