Since winning the British Contemporary Piano Competition in 2000, Sarah Nicolls has become an established pianist at the forefront of the new music scene, reflected in her Royal Philharmonic Society nomination and consistent critical acclaim. Recent projects include a concerto with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales and Sarah's solo debut at the Queen Elizabeth Hall, performing music by Luigi Nono with the London Sinfonietta, both broadcast on BBC Radio 3. This summer she travels to two Italian festivals to play newly created pieces for piano, electronics and film, and will perform in collaboration with world-renowned electronic music artist and DJ Mira Calix and sound designer David Sheppard, internationally in demand and a London Sinfonietta principal. The group give their World Premiere performance at the Aldeburgh Festival in June. Sarah will also perform in Warsaw with the highly esteemed soprano Sarah Leonard and in the Klara Festival in Brussels, both in solo recital and performing chamber music and broadcast on national radio. This year also sees the release of Sarah's debut CD, the piano music of Niccolo Castiglioni, recorded for the first time and eagerly anticipated in the new music world.

Sarah gave her debut recital at the South Bank Centre, London in January 2001, as part of the Park Lane Group Young Artists Series. This performance was a great success and led to The Times describing Sarah as 'a wonderful inspiration for and champion of new music.' After recitals at the Aldeburgh Festival, the Steinway Launch Week, the Cheltenham Contemporary Concerts Series, the British Music Information Centre, the National Portrait Gallery and BBC Broadcasting House, Sarah was invited to perform again at the South Bank, this time at the London Sinfonietta State of the Nation weekend in 2002. This important annual event aims to promote young British composers and Sarah's performance was broadcast on Radio 3's Hear and Now programme and received well in the press.

At the start of 2003, Sarah gave her solo debut at the Wigmore Hall to critical acclaim - promoted by the Park Lane Group in the Monday Platform Series. Sarah also gave her solo debut at St John's, Smith Square and was invited to perform in the European Capital of Culture - Graz, Austria. In March, Sarah was invited to create her own solo show again at the South Bank Centre, this time opening ‘Fresh', a series of concerts for exceptionally talented young performers. She developed a multimedia concert entitled ‘Cinesthesia' for which she commissioned three world premieres - pieces written for combinations of film, piano and electronics. Sarah also performed in Holland several times and in the Aveiro International Piano Festival in Portugal. As one of the selected artists in the Bath International Festival Rising Stars Series, Sarah gave a recital which prompted The Guardian to write: 'Nicolls is a genuinely "edgy Brit" and what she does should be happening every week of the year' it was also broadcast on BBC Radio 3.

In one of her most important concerts to date, Sarah gave the UK premiere of Berio's Piano Sonata, his largest work for solo piano and one of his final works written before his death in 2003. 'Nicolls's performance seemed a model of clarity and accuracy. There was a certainty about every gesture, a cool precision even when the music was at its most explosive' The Guardian. As a result, Sarah was invited to perform in the South Bank/ London Sinfonietta ‘Ommaggio Festival' which paid tribute to Luciano Berio. Other major performances have included performing as soloist with the London Sinfonietta in Rome's newest venue, the Parco della Musica, to 2,500 people and a recital in the Cheltenham International Festival of Music - the latter featuring in a piano day alongside Imogen Cooper and Andras Schiff.

Sarah read music at King's College, London whilst studying with Piers Lane at the Royal Academy of Music and went on to study with Paul Roberts and Andrew Ball at the Guildhall School of Music. She is currently a Lecturer in Music at Brunel University, London.