Larry Nickel (born March 12, 1952) is a Canadian

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Defi ...

, conductor, music publisher and singer who devotes much of his focus to choral music. An associate composer of the

Canadian Music Centre The Canadian Music Centre was founded in 1959 by a group of Canadian composers who saw a need to create a repository for Canadian music. It now holds Canada's largest collection of Canadian concert music, and works to promote the music of its As ...

. he has composed for a wide spectrum of genres; electronic and computer music, string quartet, woodwind and brass quintet, Symphony

Orchestra An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families. There are typically four main sections of instruments: * bowed string instruments, such as the violin, viola, c ...

, Symphonic Wind Ensemble and choral ensembles, including both secular and ecclesiastical music. Primarily, he has written and arranged hundreds of compositions for choirs. Nickel also works as a choral clinician, occasional university professor, music minister, guest conductor and music festival adjudicator. Nickel sang professionally with the

Vancouver Chamber Choir The Vancouver Chamber Choir is a Canadian choir performing in Vancouver, British Columbia. It was founded in 1971 by Jon Washburn. The VCC has commissioned and premiered more than 170 new choral works in over four decades. The choir performs at h ...

for six years, directed the award winning Jubilate Vocal Ensemble for five years, and also sang 2nd bass with the acclaimed

Vancouver Cantata Singers The Vancouver Cantata Singers (VCS) is an auditioned Canadian choir in Vancouver, British Columbia, founded in 1959 by organist and conductor Hugh McLean.Vancouver Cantata Singerswas first formed under the name the Philharmonic Choir in 1958 as a ...

for many years. In 2010 Nickel became the owner of Cypress Choral Music Publishing. Nickel's music has been published by 12 companies including

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print books ...

, G. Schirmer,

Shawnee Press Shawnee Press, Inc., was an independent print and recorded music publisher and for a time, the largest educational music publisher in the world. The Company published several music types including choral, vocal, instrumental, and classroom in a ...

, Pavane Publishing, Morton Music, Cypress Choral Music, Classica and Canadian International Music. The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation -

CBC Radio CBC Radio is the English-language radio operations of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. The CBC operates a number of radio networks serving different audiences and programming niches, all of which (regardless of language) are outlined below ...

- has featured his music many times. The "Sounds of Majesty" radio broadcast out of Chicago (syndicated to a myriad of stations around North America) has featured Larry Nickel's music hundreds of times.

Biography

Born to parents who became missionaries when he was eleven years old, Nickel studied music in

Kodaikanal Kodaikanal () is a hill station which is located in Dindigul district in the state of Tamil Nadu, India. Its name in the Tamil language means "The Gift of the Forest". Kodaikanal is referred to as the "Princess of Hill stations" and has a long ...

India under the

International Baccalaureate Program The International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme (IBDP) is a two-year educational programme primarily aimed at 16-to-19-year-olds in 140 countries around the world. The programme provides an internationally accepted qualification for entry into ...

. He was given a chance to direct his high school chamber choir when he was 17. Upon returning to Canada, he formed a coffeehouse band with friends called the "Sound of Light", which performed regularly in the Vancouver area for four years, made two LP recordings, and worked in recording studios as back-up singers for

Dolores Claman Dolores Olga Claman (July 6, 1927July 17, 2021) was a Canadian composer and pianist. She is best known for having composed the 1968 theme song for Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's (CBC) ''Hockey Night In Canada'' show, known simply as "The ...

("Hockey Night in Canada" composer). He studied at

Columbia Bible College Columbia Bible College (CBC) is an institution of higher education in Abbotsford, British Columbia, Canada. The college states that its mission is to "equip people for a life of discipleship, ministry and leadership in service to the church an ...

, the

University of British Columbia The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a public university, public research university with campuses near Vancouver and in Kelowna, British Columbia. Established in 1908, it is British Columbia's oldest university. The university ranks a ...

, and the

University of Lethbridge , mottoeng = '' Let there be light'' , type = Public , established = , academic_affiliations = Universities Canada , endowment = $73 million (2019) , chancellor = Charles Wease ...

. His Master of Music degree was completed at the University of

Western Washington University Western Washington University (WWU or Western) is a public university in Bellingham, Washington. The northernmost university in the contiguous United States, WWU was founded in 1893 as the state-funded New Whatcom Normal School, succeeding a pri ...

in 1983.

Nickel worked as a high school performing arts teacher for 25 years at the

Mennonite Educational Institute The Mennonite Educational Institute (MEI) is an independent country day school located in Abbotsford British Columbia, approximately 70 kilometres from Vancouver. MEI consists of four divisions — a preschool, elementary, middle, and secondary s ...

. During that time he directed over 50 stage productions including several Gilbert and Sullivan operettas. In 1993 he won the

International Association for Jazz Education International Association for Jazz Education (IAJE), formerly a not-for-profit corporation based in Manhattan, Kansas, was a volunteer-run organization that, among other things, allocated student scholarships through its approved festivals program ...

award for "outstanding service to

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

education". His senior choir was selected two years in a row, 2001 and 2002, by Varsity Vocals' international search for the Best of High School Choirs. In 1989, Nickel almost died of viral

encephalitis Encephalitis is inflammation of the brain. The severity can be variable with symptoms including reduction or alteration in consciousness, headache, fever, confusion, a stiff neck, and vomiting. Complications may include seizures, hallucinations, ...

. Following a long convalescence, he says, "During that time of healing I committed myself to writing music that speaks to the deep questions of our existence." Christian convictions permeate much of his writing. Nickel and director Tony Funk founded the West Coast

Mennonite Mennonites are groups of Anabaptist Christian church communities of denominations. The name is derived from the founder of the movement, Menno Simons (1496–1561) of Friesland. Through his writings about Reformed Christianity during the Radic ...

Chamber Choir in 1990. Over the following fifteen years the choir recorded thirteen CDs, including over one hundred of Nickel's compositions, with proceeds from CD sales donated to Communitas Supportive Care Services, a charitable organization that works with mentally challenged people. Requiem for Peace - composer Larry Nickel

Requiem for Peace - composer Larry Nickel

In 2003, Nickel began a Doctorate (DMA) in Composition, which he obtained in 2007. He studied with

Stephen Chatman Stephen Chatman (born 28 February 1950) is an American-born Canadian composer residing in Vancouver. His compositions have been performed across Canada and in the United States. Early life and education Chatman was born in Faribault, Minnesota ...

Dorothy Chang Dorothy Chang (born 1970) is an American-born composer and a professor of music at the University of British Columbia. Early life and education Chang was born in Winfield, Illinois. Her parents' families had fled to Taiwan from China during the Chi ...

and

Keith Hamel Keith Hamel (born 1956 in Morden, Manitoba, Canada) is a composer, software designer, and professor of music. His music consists of orchestral, chamber, solo, and vocal music, often focussing on live electronics and interactivity between acou ...

. His thesis involved writing a

Requiem A Requiem or Requiem Mass, also known as Mass for the dead ( la, Missa pro defunctis) or Mass of the dead ( la, Missa defunctorum), is a Mass of the Catholic Church offered for the repose of the soul or souls of one or more deceased persons, ...

in thirteen languages. "Requiem for Peace" was premiered at the Chan Centre for the Performing Arts in December 2005 under the direction Bruce Pullan. In 2010 Bruce Pullan presented "Requiem for Peace" at the Orpheum theatre with the VSO and the Vancouver Bach Choir. In 2011 Nickel reset "Requiem for Peace" for chamber size forces and this version was premiered by the

that November. Since then, Requiem for Peace has had many performances; Örebro, Västerås, Corfu, Toronto, Halifax, Guelph, Magdeburg, Speinshart, Regensburg, Nördlingen, Bayreuth, Chicago, Goshen, Ottawa (with the National Arts Centre Orchestra), in New York at Carnegie Hall and at the Ukraine Philharmonic in Kiev in 2020. Nickel has received well over a hundred commissions from groups such as the Vancouver Cantata Singers, Pro Coro Canada, Vancouver Chamber Choir, Vancouver Bach Choir, Elektra, Chor Leoni, Welsh Men's Choir, Salt Lake Vocal Artists, the Örebro Chamber Choir, Winnipeg Children's Choir, Pacific Mennonite Children's Choir, PODIUM honor choir, Halifax Camerata, Erato Ensemble, Canadian Tenors, Linden Singers, Faith and Life Men's Chorus, etc. His work has also been performed by

Pinchas Zukerman Pinchas Zukerman ( he, פנחס צוקרמן, born 16 July 1948) is an Israeli-American violinist, violist and conductor. Life and career Zukerman was born in Tel Aviv, to Jewish parents and Holocaust survivors Yehuda and Miriam Lieberman Zuk ...

Ben Heppner Thomas Bernard Heppner (born January 14, 1956) is a Canadian tenor and broadcaster, now retired from singing, who specialized in opera and other classical works for voice. Early life and career Heppner, of Mennonite descent, was born in Mur ...

, the NACO Woodwind Quintet, the Pacific Symphonic Wind Ensemble and the

National Youth Orchestra of Canada The National Youth Orchestra of Canada (NYO Canada, or NYOC, french: Orchestre national des jeunes du Canada) is a Canadian youth orchestra headquartered in Toronto. The orchestra has given concert tours in every major Canadian city as well as tri ...

. Larry and his wife, Edna, live in

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

, close to their three children and seven grandchildren.

Discography

*Songs My Father Taught Me -1991 - The West Coast Mennonite Chamber Choir *Carols for the Infant King - 1992 - The West Coast Mennonite Chamber Choir featuring Edith Wiens *Through an Open Window - 1993 - The West Coast Mennonite Chamber Choir *A Mennonite Tapestry - 1994 - The West Coast Mennonite Chamber Choir *Songs of Earth, Echoes of Heaven - 1996 - The West Coast Mennonite Chamber Choir featuring Ben Heppner *Come Heart’s Delight - 1997 - The West Coast Mennonite Chamber Choir *Canadian Safari - 1997 – Chor Leoni *Meditation – 1998 - Calvin Dyck (violinist) *When I Was a Child - 1998 - The West Coast Mennonite Chamber Choir *Remember Thy Creator - 1998 - Mennonite Educational Institute Choirs *Rare Benediction - 1999 - The West Coast Mennonite Chamber Choir *As Evening Shadows Fall - 2000 - The West Coast Mennonite Chamber Choir *My Heart My Home - 2001 - The West Coast Mennonite Chamber Choir *The Time of Eternity - 2002 - The West Coast Mennonite Chamber Choir *Pavane for a True Musical Prince - 2002 - Mennonite Educational Institute Choirs *Faith and Life Choral Festival 2002 – variety of choirs *And Night Shall End - 2003 - The West Coast Mennonite Chamber Choir *By Light Indwelled - 2004 - The West Coast Mennonite Chamber Choir *One Small Child – 2004 - Calvin Dyck (violinist) *Canadian Safari Two - 2005 - Chor Leoni *Requiem for Peace – 2006 - UBC Chorus and Symphony *Circle of Compassion - 2007 - Chor Leoni *Sacred Reflections of Canada - 2017 - Canadian Chamber Choir

References

* *

External links

Larry Nickel Personal Home Page]
Georgia Straight article
about Nickel's Requiem for Peace
Tony Funk
long time Nickel collaborator
Communitas
the organization that distributes the West Coast Mennonite Chamber Choir recordings
Canadian Music Centre features
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nickel, Larry Canadian composers Canadian male composers Canadian Mennonites Musicians from Vancouver 1952 births Living people Mennonite musicians