Dr. Natalie Nicolas is a Sydney-based composer, researcher, and lecturer, holding a Master of Music (Composition) and PhD from the Sydney Conservatorium of Music. Her emotionally driven work explores calm and catharsis, reflected in We Won’t Let You Down for ACO Collective (Hush Foundation), part of an ARIA-nominated album in 2019.

She has composed for the Sydney, Tasmania, Canberra, and Melbourne Symphony Orchestras, the Australian String Quartet, Sydney Philharmonia Choirs, Goldner String Quartet, Claire Edwardes, and The Song Company. Career highlights include the ASQ Andrew Ford National Composers Forum (2013), National Women Composer’s Development Program (2016–18), Harold and Gwenneth Harris Endowment Award (2019/20), and Flinders Quartet Composition Competition (2017, 2019). She was also selected for the MSO Cybec Program (2021).

Her music has featured on ABC Classic’s AusMusic Month and Best of Australian Classical Music playlists (2018, 2020, 2022), and in 2021 premiered at QPAC with the Southern Cross Soloists and Slava Grigoryan. Internationally, she has been performed in China, the US, and Canada, including at Connecticut Summerfest with Grammy-nominated ZOFO.

Recent commissions include Sydney Dreaming (Omega Ensemble, Opera House premiere), By the Tide of the Moon(Flinders Quartet, 2025 tour), and a new Hush Foundation album. Nicolas is the 2025 Layton Fellow with Australia Ensemble and winner of the Australian Composition Competition with guitarist Matt Withers.