New Zealand Taiwanese pianist Nicole Chao completed her graduate studies at the New Zealand School of Music with American pianist, Thomas Hecht. She is the laureate of numerous national and international awards and scholarships, including from the North Queensland Piano and Instrumental Concerto Competition in Australia, and the Kapiti Coast National Piano Competition.

Nicole performs as soloist and chamber musician to critical acclaim. A reviewer from the Kapiti Observer described her as "an immaculate pianist" who "displayed great strength.” A Middle C reviewer noted that “Chao’s sense of high romanticism was rewarding,” and yet another praised Chao’s “dazzling display of speed, agility, and clarity.”

As a chamber musician, Nicole is in high demand, and regularly performs with members of the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, New Zealand String Quartet, and Orchestra Wellington. With pianist Beth Chen, she forms the celebrated Duo Enharmonics. This piano duo regularly perform locally and nationally, and presented a national tour with Chamber Music New Zealand in 2022. Community work with the chamber music domain includes adjudicating district and regional rounds of the NZCT Chamber Music Contest.

Nicole is an active teacher, coach, and mentor, fostering the next generation of pianists and chamber musicians. Drawing on her own national success as a teenager in the equivalent Westpac Chamber Music Competition, Chao recently coached the piano six-hands trio, Czerny’s Attorneys, to the national final of the 2023 NZCT Chamber Music Contest, where they received the Joan Kerr National Third Place Award.