Composer Nicholas Edwards is fueled in all musical pursuits by the spirit of collaboration and a passion for bridging the gap between art and science. Though his works showcase a blend of influences, chief among them is the natural world; you’re equally likely to find Nicholas composing at a piano as on a notepad in the wilderness.

Recent highlights include his participation in the 2024 Fairbanks Summer Arts Festival’s Composing in the Wilderness program. After a week of backcountry hiking in Denali National Park—and a 72-hour composing sprint—Nicholas completed K’esugi Ridge, which premiered on Alaska public radio and was later performed at Denali’s visitor center. Another recent work, Pinnacles, a string trio named after Pinnacles National Park, arose from the Emerging Composers Intensive at Hidden Valley (Carmel Valley, CA) following a period of close collaboration with the performers. Other representative works include Seven Birds of Aotearoa, a solo cello piece inspired by endangered/extinct New Zealand bird species; Alpen Concerto, a piano concerto born of a trip to the Austrian Alps (premiered in December 2022); and the upcoming Angels Landing for clarinet and piano, whose themes were written atop Zion National Park’s renowned rock formation.

Nicholas holds an undergraduate degree in Composition and Ecology/Evolution/Organismal Biology from Vanderbilt University, where he studied composition with Michael A. Rose, Michael Slayton, Molly Herron, and Stan Link, and performed research on the chemosensory regulation of behavior in eusocial ants in the Zwiebel Lab. Publications can be found in the scientific journals BMC Biology and Insects. Past composition programs include the European American Musical Alliance’s Summer Composition Institute, and he’s grateful to have received Vanderbilt’s 2023 Sue Brewer Award and the 2019 Symphony Guild of Charlotte Anniversary Scholarship.

In addition to composing, Nicholas conducts, having founded a chamber orchestra during his studies which premiered over an hour of his new orchestral works across multiple semesters. He has since continued studies in the New York Session Symphony’s Emerging Conductors Workshop, Ball State Bands Conducting Workshop, and the Saratoga Orchestra’s Pacific Northwest Conducting Institute.

Originally from North Carolina and now based in Arizona, Nicholas enjoys hiking, dachshunds, reading, and travel. He’s grateful to his musical collaborators who continually inspire his creative journey through their artistry and friendship.