About

Thomas Nicholson is a Berlin-based Canadian composer working with just intonation. His practice explores ways of bridging rigorous theoretical research with intuitive experimentation.

He studied composition with Christopher Butterfield (University of Victoria) and Marc Sabat (Universität der Künste Berlin). He and Sabat have collaborated on numerous artistic and scholarly projects and publications. In 2020, they collaborated on a significant revision and extension of the Helmholtz-Ellis JI Pitch Notation (HEJI), originally developed by Sabat with Wolfgang von Schweinitz. In recent years, HEJI has become a European standard for notating music in just intonation.

Since 2014, his compositions have focused on inherently microtonal qualities of just intonation. His work often grows out of his interests in mathematics, physics, psychoacoustics, music history, graphic design and philosophy. He especially enjoys composing for smaller settings consisting of two to four musicians.

Beyond composing, he develops tools and pedagogical materials that address both the conceptual and practical challenges of writing and performing microtonal music with acoustic instruments. As a violist, he is a member of Harmonic Space Orchestra, a Berlin-based ensemble dedicated to performing music in just intonation.