Born in Perth, Australia, Nicola obtained her Bachelor of Music with first class honours from the University of Western Australia in 1999, and was awarded the Edith Cowan Prize for performance and musicology. During her studies Nicola began to play with the Australian Chamber Orchestra on modern and historical clarinet. Her curiosity in early music took her to the Netherlands, where she completed her Masters in historical performance at the Royal Conservatory in the Hague with Eric Hoeprich in 2004.
Now based in Paris, Nicola plays with various orchestras and ensembles, including l’Orchestre des Champs Elysees (Ph. Herreweghe) where she is principal clarinet, Freiburger Barockorchester , Le Cercle de l’Harmonie, La Chambre Philharmonique, Le Concert Spirituel , Anima Eterna,Ensemble Zefiro, Il Gardellino, Orchestre Revolutionnaire et Romantique … Nicola is also an active chamber musician, playing with Kristian Bezuidenhout, and the Cambini and Edding Quartets, the latter with whom in 2009 she recorded the Mozart Clarinet Quintet. As chamber musician she has played at the festivals of Saintes, Bruges, Utrecht, Accademia delle Crete Senesi and the Amsterdam Concertgebouw Robeco Zomerconcerten. In 2009 she performed the Mozart concerto at the Theatre des Champs Elysees in Paris, and at the festivals of Lessay, and Athens. She teaches regularly at the Abbaye aux Dames in Saintes, France for the Formation Superieure, a course specializing in late classical and romantic repertoire, as well as being a guest teacher at the Musikhochschule in Trossingen.