ABOUT
Nicolette is a highly sought-after London-based harpist from Singapore. An avid chamber and orchestral performer, she has several international prizes to her name and enjoys a varied freelance career in the UK. She was twice runner-up of the Camac Harp Prize in London and won third prize at the Szeged International Harp Competition 2019. She was especially proud to be the first ever Singaporean harpist to have been selected to compete at the USA International Harp competition and reached the quarterfinal. Her performances have brought her to all corners of the globe: highlights include a lecture-recital at the Tel-Aviv Museum of Art, and a featured performance as a young artist at the World Harp Congress in Hong Kong.
The camaraderie and connection of music-making is something that Nicolette particularly enjoys, having developed a love for orchestral and opera playing over the course of her career. Notable groups she has performed with include the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Royal Ballet Sinfonia, Southbank Sinfonia, Waterperry Opera, Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra, and Opera Upclose. She feels extremely fortunate to have performed in some of the UK's most prestigious venues, such as the Royal Albert Hall, Royal Festival Hall, Queen Elizabeth Hall, Cadogan Hall, St John's Smith Square and St Martin in the Fields; and also to have done recording sessions in the historic Abbey Road Studios. Nicolette's orchestral training includes being selected as harp fellow for the London Philharmonic Orchestra's Foyle Future Firsts scheme for its 2022-2023 season, and for the Britten-Pears Young Artist Programme 2020 (Orchestra).
Nicolette first moved to the UK for her tertiary studies at the Royal Academy of Music, where she won every harp prize available to her; including the Skaila Kanga Harp Prize, the Guy Magrath Harp Prize, and the Renata Scheffel-Stein Harp Prize for the top postgraduate harp result. Additionally she was awarded a "Very High Commendation" for the RAM Patrons Award, and was a finalist in its historic Club Prize. Having earned her a Bachelors of Music (first class honours) under the tutelage of Catherine White; she obtained a Master of Arts (Distinction), studying with former LSO co-principal harpist Karen Vaughan and was awarded a DipRAM for an outstanding final recital. From then on she obtained her Professional Diploma with Distinction.
Her studies would not have been possible without the generosity of her sponsors. Nicolette is very grateful to the following organizations for their support: Loke Cheng-Kim Foundation (Singapore), Trailblazer Foundation (Singapore), HelpMusicians UK,
the Peter Simon Scholarship and the Rainer and Doreen Burchett Foundation.
When she is not performing, Nicolette has been enjoying teaching the harp privately at her home studio in West London. She currently teaches a wide range of ages and abilities, with students playing either the lever or concert grand (pedal) harp.