Dr. Natalie Nicolas, a Sydney composer, holds a Masters & PhD from Sydney Conservatorium of Music. Focused on calm and catharsis, she writes emotionally driven music. "We Won't Let You Down" for ACO funded by the Hush foundation, received an ARIA album nomination in 2019. Nicolas wrote for Sydney, Tasmania, Canberra, and Melbourne Symphony Orchestras, Australian String Quartet, Sydney Philharmonia Choirs, Goldner SQ, Claire Edwardes, The Song Company. Accolades include ASQ National Composers Forum (2013), National Women Composer's Development Program (2016-2018), Harris Award (2019/20). Achievements extend to winning the Flinders Quartet Composition Competition (2017, 2019), MSO Cybec 21st Century Australian Composers’ Program (2021), and featuring on multiple ABC Classic's playlists in ’18, ’20 and ‘22. In 2021, she was premiered at QPAC by the SXS and Slava Grigoryan to their largest audience in 26 years. Internationally recognised, Nicolas' compositions resonate in China, the US, and Canada. She collaborated with Grammy-nominated ZOFO on her piece ‘Bloom’ in Connecticut in 2021. Her immersive string orchestra work for the Charles Perkins Centre with Ensemble Apex inaugurated her new research node in 2022. Recent works include "Sydney Dreaming," commissioned by Omega Ensemble, premiered at the Sydney Opera House, and "By the Tide of the Moon," premiered by the Flinders Quartet. Set for a 2024 release, Nicolas anticipates a new album with the Hush Foundation.