About Terry Lee Nichols
About Terry Lee Nichols
You sometimes hear the phrase “he was born to it”—and in Terry Lee Nichols’s case, it fits perfectly. By age four, Terry discovered his passion, playing popular melodies on his grandmother’s piano and deciding then and there that music would be his path.
Throughout his youth, Terry expanded his skills effortlessly, learning guitar, banjo, trombone, and tenor saxophone. More than performing, he was drawn to composing, arranging, and analyzing music from an early age.
In high school, Terry arranged music for the marching band, composed for school productions, and performed in diverse settings—from rock bands and church brass ensembles to supper clubs and jazz bands classical bands. His talents led to an invitation to play trombone in the University of Miami All-Star High School Jazz Ensemble under legendary Gerry Mulligan.
At Florida State University, where he earned a Bachelor of Music in Composition and Theory, Terry joined the FSU jazz ensemble, touring internationally through Eastern Europe and the Middle East. His experience mirrored the intensity of Whiplash—demanding precision, discipline, and commitment—in a supportive environment that shaped his resilience and skill.
He first explored electronic music at FSU’s lab and expanded this passion at California Institute of the Arts, earning an MFA under Stephen “Lucky” Mosko and electronic music pioneer Morton Subotnick. At CalArts, he encountered global music traditions and deepened his interest in technology while performing in clubs, composing for commercials, and interning in film and TV scoring. Though classically trained and accepted into a doctoral program at Brandeis University, Terry’s aptitude for technology led him into software development. He founded a successful company, later selling it to a major industry player.
Despite his tech career, music remained his true love. Today, Terry has returned to composing and performing. His award-winning music—spanning classical, cinematic, and new age genres—is available on all major digital platforms.
With every composition, Terry Lee Nichols invites listeners into a rich musical world crafted with skill, heart, and lifelong passion.
Currently, Terry lives near the ocean in Florida. Nichols refers to his music style as "a mixture of cinematic, new age, and minimalist classical," and he names Philip Glass, John Adams, Nils Frahm, George Crumb and Hal Budd as influences, as well as soundtrack composers Hans Zimmer, Ennio Morricone, and John Barry. Terry's first album, At Peace Beneath the Shade of My Father's Tree, was nominated for Best Neo-Classical Album in 2016 by Zone Music Reporter and Best Piano With Instrumentation by One World Radio. His 2017 release, the concept album We Have Only Come To Dream (featuring guest vocalist Rebekah Eden) was born out of Terry's interests in political activism, anthropology, and history. The theme of the album is to portray, musically, the assorted peoples who have journeyed to the Americas through time, from the ancient to the early 20th century. Of the album, Dyan Garris of NewAgeCD.com wrote "We Have Only Come To Dream. . . a collaboration between Terry Lee Nichols and Rebekah Eden, is ultra-rich, deep, wide, vast, and an utterly gorgeous album through and through. It is easily imagined as an epic film score. The arrangements, including the vocal arrangements by Eden, are spectacular. "
Terry's third album, The Pale Blue Dot, was released in August , 2020. The highly-cinematic tracks reflect Terry’s interest in music, history, anthropology, and astrophysics. It charted at number one for the months of September and October and won the 8th annual One World Music international award for 'Best Piano With Instrumentation Album' and was co-winner of the 18th annual Zone Music Reporter award for 'Best Neo-Classical Album.'
Terry’s music can be heard on satellite radio, airlines, and radio stations across the globe. He is also currently focused on creating music for music libraries used by media companies.
When asked how he views himself as an artist, Terry states "I sense the world through sound. I communicate best through sound, compositions, and performances. Sound and music [are] the most powerful emotional forces in my life. I will work to be the best I can be at communicating my thoughts and opinions through music. Success, failure, or anything in between, this is my legacy."
