Still riding the high from conducting Handel's Giulio Cesare at the Blackwater Valley Opera Festival in Ireland, Nic is back in the States and ready for two concerts at the Aspen Music Festival.

On Friday, July 5, he'll lead the Aspen Chamber Symphony in two charming Haydn symphonies: No. 31, "Hornsignal"; and No. 100, "Military." Pianist Inon Barnatan joins Nic for Shostakovich's First Piano Concerto, and clarinetist Michael Rusinek and bassoonist Nancy Goeres — both principal players with the Pittsburgh Symphony — share the spotlight in Richard Strauss's fairy-tale-inspired Duet-Concertino.

And on Thursday, July 11, Nic conducts a program of Baroque and Classical delights: Haydn's Overture to Orlando Paladino, as well as selections from Handel's Orlando and J.S. Bach's Cantata No. 51 — both featuring artists from the Aspen Opera Theater and VocalARTS Program. To close the program, British cellist Steven Isserlis joins Nic for what promises to be a sparkling performance of Haydn's Cello Concerto in C Major.

What music would you actually hear at a Bridgerton ball?

The period drama Bridgerton is one of Netflix's biggest hits, but are they getting the music heard in 19th-century England right? Nic recently sat down with the Boston Globe's A.Z. Madonna to discuss what musicians would have actually played at an aristocratic ball in 1815 — from stately minuets to country dances, waltzes, and instrumental arrangements of popular songs.

Read the article in full on the Boston Globe's website.

Celebrate the start of summer with Handel's sunny Acis and Galatea

As the summer heat sends the mercury soaring, transport yourself to the breezy pastoral landscapes of Roman mythology with Handel's Acis and Galatea (version by Mendelssohn and his sister Fanny). Focused on the love triangle between the nymph Galatea, the shepherd Acis, and the jealous giant Polyphemus, Handel's opera transforms Ovid's tale into a gripping musical drama teeming with raw emotion and melodies of heart-breaking delicacy.

Dive into this work with Nic's 2008 recording with the FestspielOrchester Göttingen, the NDR Choir, and a quartet of incredible vocalists.