Innovation in Music
Sarah Nicolls
Nicolls is a genuinely “edgy Brit”, and what she does should be happening every week of the year.
– The Guardian
As Seen In:
Latest Blog Posts
Moments of Weightlessness trailer
Take a look at the trailer for Moments of Weightlessness, Sarah's first solo show (with the immense Inside-Out Piano), my theatre show which toured in 2016-17 to Oxford's North Wall Arts Centre, the Universities of Birmingham and Canterbury, Reading's South Street...
In Our Hands
I’m inviting parents from the areas I'm touring to to take part in a filmed conversation with me: see the 'In Our Hands' page. Thanks to Sound and Music's Audience Labs!
Why my piano is special
I’ve designed the ‘Inside-Out Piano’ to make playing the inside of a piano easier. This means doing things like plucking a string, knocking on the wood and playing harmonics by pressing lightly on a string as you play a note. It can also mean ‘preparing’ the piano:...
Moments of Weightlessness 2015/16 tour
Moments of Weightlessness is a devised music theatre show which Sarah created in 2014, commissioned by Brighton Dome and supported by Arts Council England. Now on tour, this is a major turning point in Sarah’s career, giving full voice to a curiosity which has...
Performing at Why Music? BBC 3 weekend: Sat 26 Sept 2015
Sarah brought her second Inside-Out Piano to London for the first time for the BBC3 weekend asking 'Why Music?' at the Wellcome Trust. She performed a mix of George Crumb and Henry Cowell - very early pioneers of 'inside' piano music and a selection of new...
London Design Festival at Somerset House: Mon 21 Sept 2015, 6pm
Sarah is the first performer in a week of pianists, performing with an interactive light installation as part of the HEM/London Design Festival. Sarah will be playing her own composition 'Ballet-Opera for Piano & Lights' on the specially designed Yamaha...
Seedling #3
Straightforward plucking, in different registers, mixed with real notes. Turned into a longer piece.
Seedling #2
Strumming rhythmically and continuously. Clearly useful for a background, this doesn't interest my ears as much: but it would be interesting to listen to the minutae of it, the resonances in-between, changes in strumming, the sound of 3-strings-per-note. Perhaps worth...
Seedling #1
Trying to find a way to make music within or around the hecticness of life. Maybe this will be the first of regular posts, or maybe this will be the only time I do it! But the aim is clear: to explore particular inside piano techniques and to *try* to be strict on...
Improvisation starting with bolt sounds
I'm pretty sure there's hints of Aphex Twin in this (the repeating four-note melody) but can't find the source song right now. If anyone knows, please tell me - thanks!
Moments of Weightlessness trailer
Take a look at the trailer for Moments of Weightlessness, Sarah's first solo show (with the immense Inside-Out Piano), my theatre show which toured in 2016-17 to Oxford's North Wall Arts Centre, the Universities of Birmingham and Canterbury, Reading's South Street...
In Our Hands
I’m inviting parents from the areas I'm touring to to take part in a filmed conversation with me: see the 'In Our Hands' page. Thanks to Sound and Music's Audience Labs!
Why my piano is special
I’ve designed the ‘Inside-Out Piano’ to make playing the inside of a piano easier. This means doing things like plucking a string, knocking on the wood and playing harmonics by pressing lightly on a string as you play a note. It can also mean ‘preparing’ the piano:...
Moments of Weightlessness 2015/16 tour
Moments of Weightlessness is a devised music theatre show which Sarah created in 2014, commissioned by Brighton Dome and supported by Arts Council England. Now on tour, this is a major turning point in Sarah’s career, giving full voice to a curiosity which has...
Performing at Why Music? BBC 3 weekend: Sat 26 Sept 2015
Sarah brought her second Inside-Out Piano to London for the first time for the BBC3 weekend asking 'Why Music?' at the Wellcome Trust. She performed a mix of George Crumb and Henry Cowell - very early pioneers of 'inside' piano music and a selection of new...
London Design Festival at Somerset House: Mon 21 Sept 2015, 6pm
Sarah is the first performer in a week of pianists, performing with an interactive light installation as part of the HEM/London Design Festival. Sarah will be playing her own composition 'Ballet-Opera for Piano & Lights' on the specially designed Yamaha...
Seedling #3
Straightforward plucking, in different registers, mixed with real notes. Turned into a longer piece.
Seedling #2
Strumming rhythmically and continuously. Clearly useful for a background, this doesn't interest my ears as much: but it would be interesting to listen to the minutae of it, the resonances in-between, changes in strumming, the sound of 3-strings-per-note. Perhaps worth...
Seedling #1
Trying to find a way to make music within or around the hecticness of life. Maybe this will be the first of regular posts, or maybe this will be the only time I do it! But the aim is clear: to explore particular inside piano techniques and to *try* to be strict on...
Improvisation starting with bolt sounds
I'm pretty sure there's hints of Aphex Twin in this (the repeating four-note melody) but can't find the source song right now. If anyone knows, please tell me - thanks!
Moments of Weightlessness trailer
Take a look at the trailer for Moments of Weightlessness, Sarah's first solo show (with the immense Inside-Out Piano), my theatre show which toured in 2016-17 to Oxford's North Wall Arts Centre, the Universities of Birmingham and Canterbury, Reading's South Street...
In Our Hands
I’m inviting parents from the areas I'm touring to to take part in a filmed conversation with me: see the 'In Our Hands' page. Thanks to Sound and Music's Audience Labs!
Why my piano is special
I’ve designed the ‘Inside-Out Piano’ to make playing the inside of a piano easier. This means doing things like plucking a string, knocking on the wood and playing harmonics by pressing lightly on a string as you play a note. It can also mean ‘preparing’ the piano:...
Moments of Weightlessness 2015/16 tour
Moments of Weightlessness is a devised music theatre show which Sarah created in 2014, commissioned by Brighton Dome and supported by Arts Council England. Now on tour, this is a major turning point in Sarah’s career, giving full voice to a curiosity which has...
Performing at Why Music? BBC 3 weekend: Sat 26 Sept 2015
Sarah brought her second Inside-Out Piano to London for the first time for the BBC3 weekend asking 'Why Music?' at the Wellcome Trust. She performed a mix of George Crumb and Henry Cowell - very early pioneers of 'inside' piano music and a selection of new...
London Design Festival at Somerset House: Mon 21 Sept 2015, 6pm
Sarah is the first performer in a week of pianists, performing with an interactive light installation as part of the HEM/London Design Festival. Sarah will be playing her own composition 'Ballet-Opera for Piano & Lights' on the specially designed Yamaha...
Seedling #3
Straightforward plucking, in different registers, mixed with real notes. Turned into a longer piece.
Seedling #2
Strumming rhythmically and continuously. Clearly useful for a background, this doesn't interest my ears as much: but it would be interesting to listen to the minutae of it, the resonances in-between, changes in strumming, the sound of 3-strings-per-note. Perhaps worth...
Seedling #1
Trying to find a way to make music within or around the hecticness of life. Maybe this will be the first of regular posts, or maybe this will be the only time I do it! But the aim is clear: to explore particular inside piano techniques and to *try* to be strict on...
Improvisation starting with bolt sounds
I'm pretty sure there's hints of Aphex Twin in this (the repeating four-note melody) but can't find the source song right now. If anyone knows, please tell me - thanks!