Sydney composer, PhD candidate, and music educator Natalie Nicolas completed her Master of Music (Composition) degree at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music. Nicolas is a tutor and lecturer at said university, the Composer in Residence at Loreto Normanhurst, vocalist/pianist in gigs, and owns/runs a piano tuition school. Nicolas has written for, the Goldner SQ, the TSO, Sydney Philharmonia Choirs, Claire Edwardes, the CSO, and others.
In 2013, Nicolas wrote for the ASQ under the guidance of Andrew Ford, as a winner of the National Composers Forum.
Nicolas was selected for the inaugural National Women Composer’s Development Program in 2016-2018.
Nicolas won the prestigious Flinders Quartet Composition Competition in 2017 and 2019, and also their ‘All That We Are’ residency.
In 2017-18, Nicolas was commissioned by the Hush Foundation, and wrote for the ACO. ABC Classic interviewed/featured Natalie in November 2018’s ‘AusMusic Month’.
In 2020, the Sydney Symphony Orchestra commissioned Nicolas, and she later won the Harold and Gwenneth Harris Endowment for Medical Humanities Harris Award 2019/20, for her doctoral work with music and healthcare. In February of 2020, she was featured on ABC Classic FM’s ‘Best of Australian Classical Music’ playlist, and the International Women’s Day ‘Women of Note’ vol. 2 album.
In February 2021, the Southern Cross Soloists and Slava Grigoryan commissioned and premiered a new work of Nicolas’ at QPAC to their largest audience in 26 years. Nicolas was the only female, youngest, and only premiered composer of the program. Some of her other projects for 2021/22 include collaborations with the Australian Ballet and Orchestra Victoria, and an album with award-winning guitarist Matt Withers thanks to a generous commission by the ABC as part of their Fresh Start Fund initiative. Nicolas was also selected in 2021 as a composer at the prestigious Connecticut Summerfest, and participated in their festival in June collaborating with ZOFO. Nicolas was a winner of the Cybec 21st Century Australian Composers’ Program 2021, and is was commissioned by the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra. Her piece ‘Union’ was premiered at Hamer Hall in January 2022. She will also be releasing a new album with the Hush Foundation in 2022 with Matt Withers and Kartik Kunasegaran.
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