Nicholas Buc is an award-winning composer, conductor, and arranger with a distinguished career in both film and concert music. He studied composition under Brenton Broadstock and Dr. Stuart Greenbaum at the University of Melbourne, earning the inaugural Fellowship of Australian Composers Award. Nicholas furthered his education with a Master’s degree in Scoring for Film and Multimedia from New York University, where he was honoured with the Elmer Bernstein Award for Film Scoring.

His compositions have been showcased at festivals and theatres across Australia, Asia, and the United States. In November 2022, the Melbourne Youth Orchestra premiered his Trumpet Concerto, commissioned by Josh Rogan. His 100-minute oratorio, Origins, premiered to a sold-out audience at Melbourne Recital Hall in July 2023. Recently, he scored the Australian feature film Slant (2022) and the Ukrainian documentary Slava (2023).

Nicholas has collaborated with renowned artists and ensembles, including Wynton Marsalis and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, Nick Cave and Warren Ellis, Chris Botti, Amanda Palmer, Ben Folds, and The Cat Empire. He has served as conductor and arranger for Tina Arena on six Australian tours and has created arrangements for Birds of Tokyo, Lake Street Dive, Missy Higgins, The Avalanches, Eskimo Joe, The Whitlams, and Vera Blue. His television work includes Junior MasterChef (2020), five seasons of The Voice Australia, and the 2021 AFL Grand Final.

Highly sought after for live film concerts, Nicholas has conducted the world premieres of major films, including Star Wars: The Last Jedi, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, The Lion King, Beauty and the Beast, Shrek 2, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2, and Field of Dreams.

The 2024-2025 season will see the North American premiere of his children’s work, Daughter of the Inner Stars, with the Vancouver Symphony. This season also features exciting debut engagements with the Chicago Symphony, Chicago Lyric Opera, Toronto Symphony, Kansas Symphony, and Auckland Philharmonic, along with reappearances with the Seattle Symphony, Grand Rapids Symphony, and Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra, as well as all the Australian Symphony Orchestras.

Over its 35-year history, the Sydney Children’s Choir has forged a reputation for artistic innovation and spell-binding performance. Recognised for their crystal-clear sound, their precision and artistry, they possess a courageous and compelling performance style. Founded as a single ensemble by Lyn Williams AM in 1989, it now includes approximately 400 young people, comprising performing choirs and training ensembles.   

Close to the choir’s heart is its repertoire of over 200 specially commissioned works, and it continues to premiere new music from leading and emerging composers annually. The choir enjoys rich artistic collaborations with musicians from a wide range of cultures such as Suara Indonesia Dance and Mongolian singer and horsehead fiddle player, Bukhchuluun Ganburged. The choir has a long history of performing with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra and other leading ensembles, and has worked with conductors including Simone Young, David Robertson and Vladimir Ashkenazy. Over the decades it has performed at many high-profile events including the Sydney Olympics Opening Ceremony, World Youth Day, Sydney Festival and with the YouTube Symphony Orchestra. The choir has toured extensively, presenting their signature performances of contemporary Australian music to new audiences across the world.   

In 2022, the choir premiered the daring staged work Hypnopompia, directed by Alexander Berlage and performed in William Barton’s Of the Earth to celebrate the re-opening of the Sydney Opera House Concert Hall.  

In 2024, the choir performed the first concert with the new Dobson pipe organ at St James’ King St and performed with The Cat Empire and the Sydney Symphony Orchestra.   

Sydney Philharmonia Choirs is Australia’s premier choral organisation. Since it was founded in 1920, SPC has brought people together through music, and for over five decades, it has been the heartbeat of choral performance at the Sydney Opera House.

Led by Artistic and Music Director Brett Weymark OAM and Associate Music Director Dr Elizabeth Scott, and with more than 2,000 singers across six ensembles, SPC brings the full power of the human voice to dynamic music making. From blockbuster choral classics like Carmina Burana or the Verdi Requiem, to the soaring soundtracks of films such as Gladiator, heartwarming musical theatre, and world premieres by leading Australian composers.

Each year, SPC performs approximately 50 performances across Sydney and beyond, collaborating with top-tier orchestras, soloists and conductors, performing regularly with many of Australia’s most prominent arts companies and festivals. SPC has performed in the Sydney Opera House, Hamer Hall Melbourne, the Singapore National Football Stadium, Westminster Abbey, the Tokyo Dome and the Royal Albert Hall. Highlights over the years have included the opening of the Sydney Opera House, the Sydney and Nagano Olympic Games and being the first Australian choir to perform at the BBC Proms. SPC is also proud to have been the choir of choice for the Sydney Symphony Orchestra since 1936.

Sydney Philharmonia Choirs concerts celebrate diversity – of voices, of stories, and of sound – with programs that allow singers and audiences to connect with an exhilarating range of music in languages from English to Gadigal, keeping things fresh with premieres, commissions and new interpretations of beloved classics.