Nick Smolenski, tenor and early modernist, moved to Maine in 2023 after finishing his PhD in musicology at Duke University. During his studies he performed for several ensembles at Duke Chapel, directed by Philip Cave and then-organist Kit Jacobson. Nick’s focus as performer and historian is in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries; his dissertation explores the political ramifications of noise pollution and music making during the reconstruction of St Paul’s Cathedral, London, and some of his favorite performances have included sacred music by Jean Mouton, Robert White, Thomas Tomkins, and Marc-Antoine Charpentier.
Nick works for the Bowdoin International Music Festival and the Yale Journal of Music & Religion while continuing research as an independent scholar, and can be found in the St Mary’s choir loft on Sunday mornings.