"Powerful, Soul searching...            beckons you enter within"  

New York Creations Magazine
 

Composer/ Pianist David Allen Nichols is a multifaceted performer whose diverse programs have ranged from classical and new music, to ambient music, free improvisation and jazz. His unique versatility as a pianist has led to an array of collaborative projects for concert, dance, film, theatre and CD. 

Mr. Nichols arrangements, compositions and productions have been heard in the soundtracks of Corsair Pictures’ Miss Firecracker (1989), 123 Productions’ Dancing Across Borders (2009), Pacifica Network's nationally syndicated Talk More (2000), on nationally syndicated NPR and PRI programs Hearts of Space and Echoes. 

Born in Nashville, Tennessee, Mr Nichols was a dedicated composer/ pianist by age thirteen.  A winner of numerous awards under the guidance of Betty Clark Moore and Marilyn Shields-Wilke, his young years were infused with a passion for composing music and creating improvisations in addition to studying the classical piano repertiore.  After completing undergraduate studies with William Doppmann and Nancy Garrett at the University of Texas at Austin, Mr. Nichols' reputation as an improvisational pianist brought him to New York where he worked as rehearsal pianist for actress Holly Hunter’s musical routines, played jazz at New York’s Eighty-Eights club, and was accompanist for numerous dance companies including Twyla Tharp Dance, American Ballet Theatre, and New York City Ballet. 

His 1994 collaboration with the Sequentia ensemble singer Janet Youngdahl led to the creation of the medieval chant-inspired recording Evidence, released on CD by Burning Water Rebellion in 1996. Since 2013, Mr. Nichols has devoted himself to composing, performing and teaching. The creation of EXO, a mystically-charged, electronica-influenced solo piano work was a  ten-year project completed in 2015. A recording of the work is part of a forthcoming CD release.