Paul Van Nevel is the artistic director of the Huelgas Ensemble, which he founded in 1971 as an extension of his activities at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis. He is known as a pioneer and figurehead for European polyphony from the twelfth to the sixteenth centuries. Paul Van Nevel stands for an interdisciplinary approach to the original sources, taking into account the spirit of the times (literature, old pronunciation, temperament, tempo, rhetoric...). He goes in search of unknown works, including the forgotten treasures of Flemish polyphonyHe was a guest teacher at the Sweelinck Conservatory in Amsterdam, the Musikhochschule Hannover, the Centre de Musique ancienne de Genève and has been a guest conductor of the Nederlands Kamerkoor for thirty years.

Amongst other things, he has written a monograph on Johannes Ciconia, a work about Nicolas Gombert, and has published transcripts of Renaissance music with the German publishing company Bärenreiter.

Paul Van Nevel has also written a book about the city of Lisbon. In this book he describes his thirty-year relationship with the city, based on atmospheric impressions, personal preferences, explicit details and chance encounters.

In 2018 Paul Van Nevel's book, ‘The Landscape of the Polyphonists: the world of the Franco-Flemish School 1400-1600', in which he puts forward the hypothesis that the imitative and melancholic style of these composers was created by the nature of the landscape (silence, refuge, melancholy) in which the Franco-Flemish School spent their childhood. The book was awarded the 'Luc Verbekeprijs' in 2019 by the Committee for French Flanders.

Paul Van Nevel has received numerous awards, including the 'Prix in Honorem' from the Académie Charles Cros (1994), the 'Choc de l'année' (Le monde de la Musique), the 'Edison prize', the 'Cannes Classical Award', various 'Caecilia 'prizes' from the Belgian Music Press, the 'Career Prize' from the Belgian classical radio station Klara, the 'Preis der deutschen Schallplattenkritik' and various prizes from the German music awards 'ECHO Klassik '.

His recordings of the ‘Eton Choirbook' (Sony Classical, 2012) and ‘La Oreja de Zurbarán' (Cypres records, 2014) received the praise of the foreign press. For his recording 'Les Trésors de Claude Le Jeune' (Sony Classical, 2014) he received the 'Diapason d'Or de l'année 2014' and for 'Wolfgang Rihm: Et lux' (ECM, 2015) the 'Diapason d' Or de l'année 2015 '. His most recent award is a ‘Choc du mois' from the magazine Classica in February 2017 and a ‘Preis der deutschen Schallplattenkritik' (Bestenliste 1/2017) for the CD recording ‘The Mirror of Monteverdi', and the OPUS KLASSIK '18th century opera prize 2019' for the CD recording of Francesca Caccini: 'La liberazione di Ruggiero dall'isola d'Alcina'.

Paul Van Nevel is an internationally renowned "Cigarier".