
D. Riley Nicholson is a composer, pianist, and arts management professional, equally committed to creating original work and supporting performing arts organizations through management, administration, and governance.
​
Nicholson has composed and performed for a wide range of ensembles and performance venues including music for contemporary ballet, theater, orchestral music, wind band, film, chamber music, vocal music, and electronic music. Fascinated and committed to working with artists outside of music as well as within, collaborations include original music for Dance Film SF, Sarah Cahill & Regina Myers, Jeremy Bannon-Neches/ ODC Dance, Post:Ballet, Switchboard Music, Amaranth Quartet, Hot Air Music Festival, David Herrera Performance Company, Ballet Memphis's Cecily Khuner, and many other talented artists and organizations. ​
Notable projects include One, for large string orchestra, which headlined Hot Air Music Festival in 2016. Nicholson composed, produced, and performed Shimmer, for piano, visuals, and electronics which toured nationally in 2018. Later that year, he was honored as the CAPMT Distinguished Composer of the Year. In 2019, his performance of the music of Julius Eastman was described as a "powerful, ingeniously wrought rendition." (SF Chronicle). That same year, Nicholson wrote a new work for Amaranth String Quartet. In 2021, Nicholson created original music for the Walking Distance Dance Festival (ODC Dance). In 2022, he wrote a full-length electroacoustic piece for David Herrera Performance Company. Upcoming projects include the album release of UP commissioned by pianists Sarah Cahill and Regina Myers, a new guitar trio for Harjo, and a new orchestra work titled Stacks.
​
Nicholson supports forward-thinking performing arts organizations in management and production to create powerful artistic experiences. With a focus on organizational inventiveness, artistic innovation, and human-centered community building, Nicholson has fostered growth and connectedness in the arts through his previous roles as Executive Director of the Symphony of Northwest Arkansas, Project Manager for the Center for New Music, Marketing Consultant for Dance Film SF, and his leadership on the Board of Directors at Berkeley Ballet Theater and Post:Ballet. Nicholson is currently serving as the Executive Director of the Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music, the longest running festival dedicated to new music for orchestra, based in Santa Cruz, CA. ​
​
Riley has an M.M. in composition from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, a B.M. in percussion performance, and a B.A. in psychology from the University of Memphis.
​
––– short artistic bio –––
​
Composer and pianist D. Riley Nicholson has composed and performed for a wide range of ensembles and mediums. Notable projects include One, for large string orchestra, which headlined Hot Air Music Festival in 2016. Nicholson composed, produced, and performed Shimmer, for piano, visuals, and electronics which toured nationally in 2018. Later that year, he was honored as the CAPMT Distinguished Composer of the Year. In 2019, his performance of the music of Julius Eastman was described as a "powerful, ingeniously wrought rendition." (SF Chronicle). That same year, Nicholson wrote a new work for Amaranth String Quartet. In 2021, Nicholson created original music for the Walking Distance Dance Festival (ODC Dance). In 2022, he wrote a full-length electroacoustic piece for David Herrera Performance Company. Currently, Nicholson is collaborating with pianists Sarah Cahill and Regina Myers on a recording of his work "Up" and is writing a new work for HARJO. Nicholson is currently serving as the Executive Director of the Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music, the longest running and preeminent festival dedicated to new music for orchestra, based in Santa Cruz, CA.