Nicholas Ong

Nicholas Ong is a PhD candidate in Music at Clare College, University of Cambridge, where his research focuses on critic-composer Valentina Serova (1846–1924) and, more broadly, on women and music in nineteenth-century Russia. He completed a BA (Hons) in Music at the University of Nottingham and a MSt in Music (Musicology) at the University of Oxford, and was a visiting fellow at Yale University. Nicholas co-presented Crafting Musical Lives, a six-episode podcast which explored the life-writing process of musical figures, and was involved with the Midlands Music Research Network (MMRN) as Communications Officer and Podcast Organiser, hosting the flagship podcast Midlands Music Musings. He also served as Ordinary Member of the Student Committee of the Royal Musical Association. His music-making experience includes his previous service as a military musician in the Singapore Armed Forces Band and as a choral scholar in the Choir of Clare College Cambridge.

Nicholas's doctoral research is funded by the Cambridge Trust. Additional support has been received from the Faculty of Music, the Cambridge Committee for Central and East European and Eurasian Studies (CamCCEEES), the Royal Musical Association (RMA), the British Association for Slavonic and East European Studies (BASEES), the Music and Letters Trust, and the Oleg Prokofiev Trust. At Nottingham, Nicholas was awarded the Elizabeth and J D Marsden Prize, the Philip Weller Dissertation Prize, the Prize for Contribution to the Music Department, and the Nottingham Advantage Award. He was also a choral scholar at St Barnabas Cathedral, Nottingham, and The Queen's College, Oxford.

Nicholas has served as PhD representative (2023-2024) and a member of the Colloquium Committee (2024-2025) in the faculty. He is an Associate Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (AFHEA).