Jon Nicholls profile picture

Jon Nicholls

About Me


Jon Nicholls is a Prix Italia-nominated composer and sound designer with over ten years' experience of composing music and sound scores for drama and documentary on TV, radio, film and in the theatre, with a substantial track record of commissions from national broadcasters and theatre companies. His work draws on a huge range of eclectic influences, ranging from sweeping orchestral music, gamelan and urban ambiences to lyrical themes, organic soundscapes and cutting-edge electroacoustics.
Jon's work has recently been heard on BBC Radio 3 & Radio 4, BBC TV, Channel 4, and ITV, and at theatres including the Birmingham Rep, Sheffield Crucible, Theatr Clwyd, Derby Playhouse, Unicorn Theatre and Northampton Royal & Derngate.
Jon received a Jury Special Mention at the 2008 Prix Italia for his music and sound score for Radio 4's acclaimed 'What I Heard About Iraq'.
Current projects: major new adaptation of H G Wells' 'The Time Machine' for BBC Radio 3, three forthcoming new documentaries for Channel 4 'Dispatches', 'The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie' for Northampton Theatre Royal, score and sound design for 'Little Boy Blues' - a new short from Suscito Films - and score for 'Prodigal', a new film from Smoorns Films.
He's also recently begun a relationship with the audiobooks division of Ladbroke Radio Productions, creating music and sound design for a forthcoming series of audio readings. The first of these, featuring stories by cult horror writer H P Lovecraft, is due for release in late 2008.
Recent projects include 'Faust' for BBC Radio 4 (new adaptation starring Mark Gatiss and Julian Rhind-Tutt), 'Cat on a Hot Tin Roof' for BBC Radio 3 (starring Joss Ackland, Alison Steadman and Gemma Jones) and Radio 4's devastating adaptation of 'What I Heard About Iraq'.
2007 saw the premiere of his opera 'Falling Across' in Birmingham - a collaboration with writer Michael Akraka with support from the Birmingham Rep and the 2007 Collide festival.
Jon's recently begun developing a series of collaborations with leading writers - most recently poet and novelist Jackie Kay - creating live performance pieces for voice and sound score. He'll also be working this year with Apples and Snakes, the UK's premier promoter and supporter of live literature and performance poetry.
Plain MySpace Layouts by Iron Spider

My Interests

Music:

Member Since: 23/03/2007
Band Website: www.jonnicholls.com
Band Members:
Influences: arvo part, steve reich, toru takemitsu, harry partch, francis dhomont, olivier messiaen, igor stravinsky, jerry goldsmith, john barry, miles davis, brian eno, tristan murail, brian wilson, gamelan, art ensemble of chicago, harrison birtwistle, claude debussy, james brown, michael brook, giya kancheli, ennio morricone, maurice ravel, hildegard of bingen, autechre, john cage, morton feldman, jonathan harvey, louis andriessen, benjamin britten, james macmillan, kahia saariaho, lamb, future sound of london, weather report

Sounds Like: Here are some extracts from some of Jon's film and television projects:
BBC Storyville: 'Small Pain for Glory'
In the aftermath of devastating civil war, Sierra Leone attempts to put together an Olympic athletic squad for the 2004 Games in Athens. A powerful and moving documentary, co-produced by the BBC and WGBH.
(Urban Films, prod. Ilona Benjamin)

Channel 4 Cutting Edge: Secrets of the Austrian Cellar
The shocking story of Josef Fritzl's 25-year imprisonment of his own family
(Blakeway TV, prod. Nick London)

Channel 4 Dispatches: 'Iraq's Lost Generation'
Documentary on plight of Iraq's displaced middle class and the implications for Iraq of their absence.
(Hard Cash Productions, prod. Ed Robbins)
Channel 4 Dispatches: 'Spiked'
Award-winning journalist Maggie O'Kane investigates the alarming prevalence of drug rape in Britain.
(First Frame TV, prod. Lynn Ferguson)

Channel 4 Dispatches: 'On The Streets'
Award-winning journalist Maggie O'Kane's investigation into the failings of Britain's prostitution laws attracted national press coverage.
(First Frame TV, prod. Lynn Ferguson)

Channel 4: Women Facing War: 'Sarah'
One of a series of 12 films commissioned by the International Red Cross highlighting women's experience of war.
(Urban Films, prod. Ilona Benjamin)

Shore (Smoorns Films 2006)
Horror short. A man wakes on an unknown beach, and struggles to make sense of his increasingly terrifying situation...

Little Boy Blues (Suscito Films 2007)
Short thriller. A picnic on a perfect summer afternoon - but with a dark secret in the background...

One World Action: 'Toys'
Promotional film for charity One World Action highlighting the daily lives of the inhabitants of Uganda's capital Luanda
(Urban Films, prod. Ilona Benjamin)

Channel 4 Secret Asia: 'Nuclear Ginza'
Documentary exposing the hidden terrible human cost of Japan's nuclear industry.
(Small World Media, dir. Nicky Rohl)

Record Label: unsigned
Type of Label: Major

My Blog

LIVE LITERATURE

Apples & Snakes (2008) Apples and Snakes are the UK's premier live literature developers; Jon was a guest artist working with emerging performers on creative uses of sound in live perfo...
Posted by on Tue, 30 Sep 2008 15:00:00 GMT

TV / RADIO / FILM

TV Small Pain for Glory (BBC4)Cutting Edge: Secrets of the Austrian Cellar (Channel 4)Dispatches: The Human Cost of the Credit Crunch (Channel 4)Dispatches: Iraq - the lost generat...
Posted by on Mon, 09 Jun 2008 02:55:00 GMT

THEATRE

Northampton Theatre RoyalHumble Boy (dir. Richard Beecham)The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (dir. Lauire Sansom) Birmingham Rep:Katherine DeSouza (dir. Gwenda Hughes)The Seamstress' Revenge (dir. Ben Payn...
Posted by on Sun, 15 Jul 2007 16:39:00 GMT

REVIEWS / TESTIMONIALS

'..Working with these stories was like a fabulous cross between theatre, film, and reading - a new kind of form. I love the way that Jon runs with an idea, immersing himself in the words so much that...
Posted by on Sat, 24 Mar 2007 06:20:00 GMT