Born in Novosibirsk, Russia, Nikita attended the Karaganda Special Music School in Kazakhstan at the age of seven where he studied double bass with Pavel Bobrovskiy. At the age of just fourteen, Nikita gained his first orchestral job with the Karaganda Symphony Orchestra. Four years later he secured the position of Principal Double Bass with the Congress Orchestra of St Petersburg under the direction of Petr Gribanov. He then went on to gain Principal with the Youth Philharmonic Chamber Orchestra of St Petersburg as well as performing with all the major orchestras in the area, including the St Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra.

 

Naumov continued his studies in St Petersburg at the Rimskiy-Korsakov Conservatoire under the teaching of Professor Alexander Shilo. After a master class with Rinat Ibragimov and Thomas Martin he was invited to study with them at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London funded by the Leverhumle trust. Whilst studying in London Nikita received the Martin Musical Scholarship for gifted musicians and graduated in 2010.

 

Nikita is currently Principal Double Bass with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra and has held the position since 2010. He has worked with many of the finest orchestras and played as a guest principal with the London Symphony Orchestra, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Royal Northern Sinfonia, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra, Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra, Amsterdam Sinfonietta and the Stavanger Symphony Orchestra.

Nikita regularly appears as a soloist and has won numerous prizes, including at the 2012 Koussevitzky double bass competition in St Petersburg. His solo performances include, Hallgrímsson’s Sonnambulo for Double Bass with the Reykjavik Chamber Orchestra in Iceland, Tubin’s Double Bass Concerto at the Pärnu music festival, Koussevitzky’s Double Bass Concerto with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra on tour in Scotland and with the St Petersburg Camerata at the Musical Olympus festival, Bottesini's Lucia di Lammermoor with the Karaganda Symphony Orchestra, a recital at The Cumnock Tryst including Vask’s Bass Trip, Bottesini’s Concerto alla Mendelssohn, Rachmaninoff’s Vocalise with Lars Vogt at Heimbach "Spannungen" Kammermusik Festival and Bottesini‘s Gran Duo Concertante with Benjamin Marquise Gilmore and the Scottish Chamber Orchestra. Nikita is a friend of the Scottish Bass Trust who he frequently performs recitals with and who partly commissioned Sonnambulo.

 

In addition, Nikita is a keen chamber musician. He is a member of the internationally recognised chamber group, the London Concord Ensemble and has featured with them at the BBC lunchtime series at the Wigmore Hall. Nikita performs regularly at the Chamber Sundays Series at the Queen’s Hall in Edinburgh and with the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, besides appearing in festivals in Norway, Germany and Estonia. His recordings include Buxton Orr: Songs with Tenor Nicky Spence and Mozart: Divertimento K.334 which was Named 'Gramophone Choice' in the February 2012 issue.

 

Nikita regularly leads master classes around the world and teaches double bass at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland.

 

Nikita plays with Eudoxa strings from Pirastro.