A native of Syracuse, New York, USA, Nathaniel Wood discovered the opportunity to combine a long-standing fascination with "Old Stuff" with a passion for music when he unearthed a sackbut in Jim DeSano's trombone studio collection in the first spring of his Bachelor's degree at Oberlin Conservatory. This led to three years of exploration in performance practice classes, early chamber music, and Renaissance polyphonic singing in the Collegium, with teachers including Lisa Crawford, Steven Plank, Richard Cheetham and Alison Melville. These experiences, coupled with summer courses with Wim Becu and members of Piffaro, led him to then pursue first a Masters degree in performance practice at Case-Western Reserve University under the tutelage of Ross Duffin and Greg Ingles, and then as a Fulbright/Ratner Foundation Scholar to the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis.

At the Schola, he expanded his repertoire as far back as the fourteenth century, and forward to the Romantic period, studying historical trombones with Charles Toet, plectrum lute and medieval performance practice with Crawford Young, solmisation and sixteenth-century performance practice with Anne Smith, and performing rhetoric with Anthony Rooley. His particular interests focus on the various activities of Renaissance wind bands in both secular and sacred contexts, and the virtuoso chamber music of the seventeenth century.

A versatile performer, he is equally at home across the wide spectrum of Renaissance, Baroque, Classical and modern trombone repertoires, as well as the medieval busine and various slide and natural trumpets.

Based in Brussels, Belgium, Nathaniel is an active performer with historical ensembles including Concerto Palatino, Les Haulz et les Bas, Mediva, Le Miroir de Musique, L'Arpa Festante München, New Century Baroque, Ensemble COMBASSAL and I Fedeli. He is a cofounder of the alta capella ensemble Alta Bellezza, and a member of Concerto Scirocco and TRUMMET.

Alongside his performing work, he also pursues a growing interest in instrument making and restoration. Alongside independent collecting and research, he frequented the workshop of Rainer Egger first as a customer and instrument tester, and later for a brief internship, assisted harpsichord maker and restorer David Ley, and took part in instrumentmaking courses with Robert Barclay, Richard Seraphinoff, Michael Münkwitz and Geert Jan van der Heide, before establishing his own atelier for historic brass instruments.

Nathaniel is an advocate of pushing the boundaries of historical performance, working closely with all-gut, equal tension string players including Margreet van den Heyden and Caroline Ritchie, various natural (unvented) trumpet players, and the ensemble Chordae Freybergensis, which is dedicated to exploring the repertoire of the late-Renaissance instruments from the Cathedral of Freiberg (Saxony). He prefers to take the risk of experimenting practically with new discoveries over playing it safe, and favors flexibility and historical accuracy to a one-size-fits-all approach, both stylistically and regarding choice of setup.

He is also in demand as an ensemble coach and instrumental teacher, working with a range of historical and modern ensembles and performers.