“Rapidly emerging as one of Australia’s most exciting young artists” (ABC Classic), Paul Nicolaou is a multi-award-winning harpist and composer based in Sydney, Australia. Praised as “brilliant” (classikON), he has quickly gained international recognition as a creative and virtuosic young artist, receiving accolades including the 2026 APRA Professional Development Award for Screen Composition, the 2026 Eva Pascoe Award, First Prize in the 2023 National Youth Music Arranging Competition and the 2021 Monash University Emerging Composer Prize.
A graduate from the Sydney Conservatorium of Music with First Class Honours, Paul studied under internationally celebrated harpist Alice Giles AM. He has quickly established himself as an accomplished, versatile and sought-after performer, appearing as Guest Principal Harp with the Queensland Symphony Orchestra, Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra and Auckland Philharmonia, as well as Omega Ensemble, Ensemble Apex and more. Paul also regularly performs with the Opera Australia Orchestra, and was Principal Harp of the Australian Youth Orchestra (AYO) from 2022-24.
Composer-in-Residence with Sydney Youth Orchestras for their 2026 International Tour, Paul has been commissioned by organisations including ABC Classic and the Australian National Academy of Music (ANAM), and was a selected composer for the Australian Music Centre’s 2025 MOMENTUM Plus project.
With a strong interest in music for interactive media, Paul enjoys researching, arranging, and performing music from games. His Honours study investigated facilitating expansion of the canonical harp repertoire through analysis, arrangement and canonical integration of video game scores.
Paul is also an experienced pianist, violinist, an accredited music arranger with the Music Arrangers' Guild of Australia and Australian Music Centre Associate Artist.