He grew up listening to Greek music at his grandparents' house.
A descendant of Greek Cypriots from Kastellorizo and the village of Myrtou, located southwest of Kyrenia, Paul Nicolaou was not heavily involved in music until high school.
He was then won over by music composition, following his desire to learn the harp.
The young Greek Cypriot Australian will perform in two upcoming concerts with the Australian Youth Orchestra, in the world premiere of the work "Ngapa William Cooper" by renowned composer Nigel Westlake.
The concerts will take place on Sunday 9 July at the Llewellyn Hall in Canberra and on Monday 10 July at the Sydney Opera House, with Paul Nicolaou as sole harpist.
He was then won over by music composition, following his desire to learn the harp.
The talented 19-year-old started playing the harp at the age of 16, quite late compared to when most advanced or professional musicians start their careers.
"It was a bit of a strange and sudden change for me, because I've always made music from a very young age. My parents started my sister on piano and violin when she was five and six, and I did the same two years later. My mother is a teacher, so she's always been very much in favor of trying as much as we can and learning in different ways. And so it was just something that we did and I never really focused on it, or I was never extremely good at it, but I enjoyed it and it was something that I did alongside my other activities. When I was about twelve, I discovered music composition and writing alongside the piano and violin that I was still doing. At about 14, for some reason I can't explain why, I really became enchanted and infatuated with the harp," he said.
A love that, as he explains, was at first sight.
"I didn't see anyone playing, I didn't hear about it, no one told me about it. I just really knew I wanted to play this instrument. So I mentioned it to my parents and they kind of said, I'm doing enough already. It really came out of nowhere. I think they assumed I would forget about it or they thought maybe it wasn't urgent, but for some reason it didn't go away and I really felt the need to pursue it. So I kept reminding them that I really wanted to try this instrument," he notes.
Listen to more in the podcast.
