Thomas Nicholson

2026
Variable duration

SuperCollider

Enigma Canon

2026
15 min

Solo piano in 12-EDO

Pythagoras Spiral

2025
20 min

Solo pipe organ in any tuning with at least two manuals and pedals

Pipe Dream

2025
16 min
YouTube

Solo harp in a hybrid 84-EDO/JI tuning

Ultramarine

2025
5 min
YouTube

Bass flute, viola and Pianoteq in JI

Sixty Arches

2025
6 min

Bass flute, bass trombone, electric guitar, violin, two violas and contrabass

Enharmonium

2024
Open duration

Open instrumentation with pre-recorded playback; collaboration with Rebecca Lane and Sam Dunscombe

Monotone-Expansion

2024
30 min
YouTube

Bass flute, viola and electronic tones; collaboration with Rebecca Lane

Doppelzelt

2023
15 min
YouTube

Voice, bass/alto flutes, trombone, violin, viola, cello and contrabass

Minimal Surface

2023
17 min

SuperCollider

Sursum Corda

2023
24 min

Bass flute and contrabass

Time Falling

2023
18 min
YouTube

Film with electronic music made in SuperCollider

Old Town

2023
17 min
YouTube

SuperCollider, optionally with acoustic instruments and/or voices

Rassla

2023
Open duration
YouTube

Two pianos in 67-limit JI

Sieve of Eratosthenes

2022
18 min
SoundCloud

Flute, bass flute, alto saxophone, bass trombone, accordion in 12-EDO, electric guitar in 84-EDO, harp in 84-EDO, violin and cello

Nocturne

2021
18 min
YouTube

At least six instruments and/or voices, possibly with electronic accompaniment

Harmonium Glistening

2021
8 min
YouTube

Alto flute, viola and trombone

Triple Resplendence

2021
12 min
SoundCloud

3 Flutes, 3 oboes, 3 clarinets, 3 bassoons, 4 horns, 3 trumpets, 3 trombones, tuba, bass drum, timpani, harp and strings

Per

2020
10 min

High voice or alto flute, violin, clarinet in A and bass clarinet; text by Luisa Rüster

Wenn

2020
27 min
SoundCloud

SuperCollider

Rondo for Marcus Pal

2020
10 min
YouTube

Horn, viola and suspended cymbal

98 Chords for Catherine Lamb

2019
10 min

Clarinet in B-flat, violin, cello and accordion in 12-EDO

Anstatt

2019
13 min
YouTube

Solo piano in Sabat II well temperament

Just/Chords Melodies

2018
6 min
YouTube

Violin and viola

Still

2018
9 min

Bass flute, violin, viola and cello

Endless Wander

2018
45 min
Vimeo

Three dancers, light, object installation, violin and SuperCollider; collaboration with Luisa Rüster

Schwer Abschied nehmen

2018
15 min
YouTube

Baroque alto recorder, viola, keyboard and video installation

Gram

2018
8 min
YouTube

Any three sustaining instruments and/or voices

Branch

2017
55 min
YouTube

Site-specific installation, sculpture, film and soundtrack; collaboration with Kim Ferris‑Manning

Servicemaster

2017
40 min
YouTube

Flute (doubling piccolo), alto saxophone (doubling contrabass clarinet), bassoon (doubling contrabassoon), horn, tubular bells, piano in 13-limit JI, violin and viola

Motte

2016
17 min
YouTube

3 Flutes, 2 oboes, 3 clarinets, 3 bassoons, 4 horns, 3 trumpets, 3 trombones, percussion (3 players), harp, organ and strings

About

2021
Download

Masters Thesis
Universität der Künste Berlin

Surprising Connections in Extended Just Intonation

2020
Download

With Marc Sabat
Zivá hudba 2020/11

A Compact Enharmonically Viable Subset of Harmonic Space

2020
Download

With Marc Sabat
Revision and expansion (47-limit)

The Helmholtz-Ellis JI Pitch Notation

2020
Download

With Marc Sabat
TEMPO 74, no. 291

Farey sequences map playable nodes on a string

2018
Read online

Software review
Scoring Notes

Microtonal playback in Dorico

2018
Download

With Marc Sabat
Pedagogical guide and reference text

Fundamental Principles of Just Intonation and Microtonal Composition

2026
Specimen/files

A sans‑serif type family with 6 weights and integrated HEJI accidentals.

Plainsound Typeface

2021
WebApp (desktop only)

Harmonic series synthesiser

Harmonic Series Spiral Synth

2020
WebApp

HEJI notation calculator

Plainsound Harmonic Space Calculator

October 1, 2026
Harmonic Space Orchestra
Exploratorium, Berlin

September 26, 2026
Göteborg Art Sounds Festival
Atalante, Gothenburg

May 27, 2026
Solistenensemble Kaleidoskop
Silent Green, Berlin

April 14, 2026
Unerhörte Musik
BKA Theater, Berlin

December 3, 2025
The Just Tuned Harp
KM28, Berlin

October 18, 2025
Festival MIXTUR
L’Auditori, Barcelona

October 12, 2025
Mikro|Tonal Festival and Conference
Elsie Hamilton in 26 Letters with Rebecca Lane
CAU, Kiel

September 30, 2025
The Velvet Gentleman II
KM28, Berlin

September 16, 2025
The Velvet Gentleman I
KM28, Berlin

June 24 to 25, 2025
Workshops with Ensembles Contrechamps & Dedalus
Les six toits, Geneva

June 18, 2025
Prime Time #8
KM28, Berlin

May 31, 2025
VANG VII
Palacio de Cibeles, Madrid

May 11, 2025
Landen und Ankommen
Haus am Land, Solothurn

March 29, 2025
Prime Time #7
KM28, Berlin

December 5, 2024
Sacred Realism Festival
KM28, Berlin

November 24, 2024
HCMF//2024
Town Hall, Huddersfield

November 15, 2024
Harmonic Space Orchestra
KM28, Berlin

October 17, 2024
Get Lost Vol. 2
Markthalle Moabit, Berlin

October 10, 2024
Prime Time #6
KM28, Berlin

January 29 to February 3, 2024
Semaine du Son
GMEA, Albi

December 6, 2023
Festival AKEFT Berlin
Emmaus-Kirche, Berlin

November 11, 2023
Mikroskop IV (EnsembleSpectrum)
A4, Bratislava

November 10, 2023
Endless Wander (EnsembleSpectrum)
Malý Berlín, Trnava

November 4, 2023
Just intonation workshop
Tulkinnanvaraista, Helsinki

November 3, 2023
Doppelzelt
Tulkinnanvaraista, Helsinki

November 1, 2023
Himera Festival
Contemporary Art Space Kutomo, Turku

October 31, 2023
Äänen Lumo
BioArt Society, Helsinki

October 30, 2023
Festival AKEFT
St. Michael’s Church, Tallinn

October 28, 2023
Prime Time #4
KM28, Berlin

October 14, 2023
Time Falling
Lindenkirche, Berlin

October 9 to 11, 2023
Recording with Ensemble Contrechamps
Abbatiale de Bellelay

June 27 to 29, 2023
L’infini du son (GMEA)
Abbaye de Sylvanès

June 15, 2023
M.O. Abbott portrait concert
KM28, Berlin

May 31, 2023
Prime Time #3
KM28, Berlin

May 31, 2023
New Dawn (EnsembleSpectrum)
Nová Cvernovka, Bratislava

April 16, 2023
Spiral Sunday #4
Petersburg Art Space, Berlin

March 31, 2023
Prime Time #2
KM28, Berlin

March 19, 2023
Edition Festival
Confidencen, Stockholm

January 31, 2023
Prime Time #1
KM28, Berlin

August 1 to 8, 2022
Expériences residency (GMEA)
L’Athenor, Albi

January 8, 2022
SALT New Music Festival (Tsilumos Ensemble)
University of Victoria

November 18, 2021
ReiheM
Basement, Cologne

October 3, 2021
Festival Riverrun
Théâtre des Lices, Albi

June 26, 2021
Harmony, Emptiness, Space
Konzerthaus Berlin

June 14 to 15, 2021
Louth Contemporary Music Society
Dundalk/online

October 16 to 24, 2020
Harmonic Space 2020: James Tenney
KINDL and KM28, Berlin

February 28 to March 1, 2020
Beyond Microtonal Music Festival
University of Pittsburgh

I am a Berlin-based Canadian composer working with just intonation. I search for points of contact between acoustics, perception, and musical expression by combining rigorous theoretical and formal research with intuitive, practice-based experimentation.

I studied composition with Christopher Butterfield at the University of Victoria and Marc Sabat at the Universität der Künste Berlin. My long-standing collaboration with Sabat has led to a number of artistic and scholarly projects, including in-depth work on tuning theory and music notation. In 2020, we undertook a major revision and expansion of the Helmholtz-Ellis Just Intonation Pitch Notation (HEJI), originally developed by Sabat and Wolfgang von Schweinitz in the early 2000s. The updated system is now widely used across Europe and North America as the standard for notating music in extended just intonation.

Since 2014, my compositions have focused increasingly on what seem to me inherently microtonal qualities of just intonation. My work is often coloured by my interests in mathematics, psychoacoustics, music history, and philosophy. I am particularly drawn to intimate musical contexts, typically small ensembles of two to four performers, where finely tuned relationships between tones become especially vivid.

In addition to composing, I develop tools and pedagogical materials to support musicians working with similar practices. These aim to address the conceptual and practical considerations of performing microtonal music on acoustic instruments. I also design typefaces. As a performer, I am a member of Harmonic Space Orchestra.

nicholson at plainsound dot org

Please contact me if you are interested in scores.

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