Bloemfontein Childrens Choir

Born in Cape Town, Nico got his first accordion at the age of 13 and won an adult music competition six months later. He composed his first music piece at the age of 17 and has written approximately 1 200 songs. His most famous song "Zambezi" became a world hit and was recorded by artists such as Eddie Calvert, Acker Bilk, Bert Kaempfert, The Shadows, James Last, Chet Atkins, Floyd Kramer and Johnny Dankworth. Other compositions were recorded by Horst Wende, Henri Rene, Geoff Love and bands in Australia, Italy and Poland.

Since forming his own band at age 24, Nico has recorded over 90 albums which have sold over 2 million copies in South Africa. He has performed all over South Africa, Namibia, Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Botswana as well as at the Nantes Festival in France and he appeared on Musikantenstadl for ORF in 1997.

Nico writes and performs music which spans the various cultures of South Africa. He draws inspiration from various sources, including Cape Malay, Black Township and indigenous South African sounds and combines them to form a unique Carstens sound.

Nico is considered among the top 10 accodionists in the world.

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