Dr Nicholas Ng is a Sydney-based composer, performer and full-time Research Fellow at the Institute for Australian and Chinese Arts and Culture (Western Sydney University). He teaches erhu (Chinese 2-string fiddle) and harmony at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music (SCM), where he is co-director of the SCM Chinese Music Ensemble and co-ordinator of the Open Academy Rising Stars Music Skills program.
As a performer, he has appeared at Sydney Opera House, Merkin Concert Hall (New York), Chinese Gardens Chamber Music Festival (Sydney), KunstenFESTIVALdesarts (Brussels), Melbourne International Arts Festival, Sydney Sacred Music Festival, Woodford Folk Festival, Four Winds Festival, Music by the Sea, Otago Festival of the Arts, OzAsia Festival (Adelaide), Push Festival (Vancouver), and in 2009, at the Parliament of the World's Religions with Dr Kim Cunio, Heather Lee and Tunji Beier. He has a long working association with William Yang in the Performing Lines production ‘China’. Nicholas plays the erhu, hululsi, pipa, piano, organ, recorder and ukulele, and sings plainchant and Renaissance polyphony.
As a composer, Nicholas has been commissioned by the Art Gallery of NSW, Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art, QL2 Centre for Youth Dance, Griffin Theatre, Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, The Australian Voices, Chronology Arts, Society for Universal Sacred Music, and Performance 4a. Published by Orpheus Music, his compositions have been broadcast on ABC Classic FM, Radio National, SBS and awarded prizes such as the 2005 Orpheus Publications Composition Prize. He is most recent commissions include Synergy’s ‘40 under 40’ and the film score for ‘Silent Achievers’, a documentary produced by the Centre for Environment and Population Health (Griffith University).
Nicholas’ music is often a sonic exploration of his Chinese roots, drawing from his research into secular and sacred music in and from China. Nicholas established the Australian National University Chinese Music Ensemble in 2003 and completed a PhD on the music of Sydney’s Chinese community at the ANU in 2008. He later edited ENCOUNTERS: Musical meetings between Australia and China, a book based on the 2010 Australia-China festival that he curated while on staff at Queensland Conservatorium Griffith University. In 2015, he was engaged by Arts Queensland and Brisbane Multicultural Arts Centre (BeMAC) to bring traditional Chinese music and story-telling into remote areas of Queensland.
Nicholas is also interested in physical theatre and movement. Recent cross-art productions include Annette Shun Wah’s ‘The Serpent’s Table’, premiered at the Sydney Festival 2014; ‘Descendants of the Dragon’, produced by Young Australia Workshop, and the 'Rebirth' project, directed by Shirin Majd. He is currently involved in the development of Anna Yen’s theatre piece 'Slow Boat', a Chinese migration story funded by the Australia Council for the Arts and Arts Queensland and ‘The Bone Feeder’ (Auckland Arts Festival & New Zealand Opera). He is grateful to have taught Chinese music with Jingjing Lu at Stringmania 2018.
Nicholas has a strong interest in spirituality and recently appeared in the ABC Compass program 'Divine Rhythms' with Richard Petkovic (Cultural Arts Collective), Maria Mitar (Blue Mary) and Yorgo Kaporis (Dusha Balkana). Raised a Tridentine (Old Rite) Roman Catholic, he has studied Buddhism, Taoism and Hinduism for several years. Nicholas practises Tai Chi weaponry, ballet and enjoys cooking.
As a performer, he has appeared at Sydney Opera House, Merkin Concert Hall (New York), Chinese Gardens Chamber Music Festival (Sydney), KunstenFESTIVALdesarts (Brussels), Melbourne International Arts Festival, Sydney Sacred Music Festival, Woodford Folk Festival, Four Winds Festival, Music by the Sea, Otago Festival of the Arts, OzAsia Festival (Adelaide), Push Festival (Vancouver), and in 2009, at the Parliament of the World's Religions with Dr Kim Cunio, Heather Lee and Tunji Beier. He has a long working association with William Yang in the Performing Lines production ‘China’. Nicholas plays the erhu, hululsi, pipa, piano, organ, recorder and ukulele, and sings plainchant and Renaissance polyphony.
As a composer, Nicholas has been commissioned by the Art Gallery of NSW, Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art, QL2 Centre for Youth Dance, Griffin Theatre, Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, The Australian Voices, Chronology Arts, Society for Universal Sacred Music, and Performance 4a. Published by Orpheus Music, his compositions have been broadcast on ABC Classic FM, Radio National, SBS and awarded prizes such as the 2005 Orpheus Publications Composition Prize. He is most recent commissions include Synergy’s ‘40 under 40’ and the film score for ‘Silent Achievers’, a documentary produced by the Centre for Environment and Population Health (Griffith University).
Nicholas’ music is often a sonic exploration of his Chinese roots, drawing from his research into secular and sacred music in and from China. Nicholas established the Australian National University Chinese Music Ensemble in 2003 and completed a PhD on the music of Sydney’s Chinese community at the ANU in 2008. He later edited ENCOUNTERS: Musical meetings between Australia and China, a book based on the 2010 Australia-China festival that he curated while on staff at Queensland Conservatorium Griffith University. In 2015, he was engaged by Arts Queensland and Brisbane Multicultural Arts Centre (BeMAC) to bring traditional Chinese music and story-telling into remote areas of Queensland.
Nicholas is also interested in physical theatre and movement. Recent cross-art productions include Annette Shun Wah’s ‘The Serpent’s Table’, premiered at the Sydney Festival 2014; ‘Descendants of the Dragon’, produced by Young Australia Workshop, and the 'Rebirth' project, directed by Shirin Majd. He is currently involved in the development of Anna Yen’s theatre piece 'Slow Boat', a Chinese migration story funded by the Australia Council for the Arts and Arts Queensland and ‘The Bone Feeder’ (Auckland Arts Festival & New Zealand Opera). He is grateful to have taught Chinese music with Jingjing Lu at Stringmania 2018.
Nicholas has a strong interest in spirituality and recently appeared in the ABC Compass program 'Divine Rhythms' with Richard Petkovic (Cultural Arts Collective), Maria Mitar (Blue Mary) and Yorgo Kaporis (Dusha Balkana). Raised a Tridentine (Old Rite) Roman Catholic, he has studied Buddhism, Taoism and Hinduism for several years. Nicholas practises Tai Chi weaponry, ballet and enjoys cooking.
