Dr. Richard Nichols holds Bachelor and Master of Music degrees from Bob Jones University and Southern Methodist University and the Doctor of Musical Arts degree from The Ohio State University.  For ten years he was Associate Professor of Music at Clearwater Christian College where he conducted the orchestra and brass ensemble and taught conducting, music history, and music theory.  In 2003 he co-founded Heritage Orchestra (a Christian youth orchestra) in the Tampa Bay area with great success.

As a performer, Dr. Nichols performs regularly with the Jacksonville Symphony, the Florida Orchestra, the Sarasota Orchestra and the Spartanburg Philharmonic Orchestra.  He has performed solo recitals and master classes in schools such as the Eastman School of Music, Florida State University, North Carolina School of the Arts and internationally at the University of Cape Town in South Africa and at the Odessa Conservatory in the Ukraine.

Dr. Nichols has over 100 compositions in print with publishers such as Shawnee, Lorenz, SoundForth, Pinner Publications, Majesty Music and Canticle Press.  He has been commissioned to compose for the music departments of The Ohio State University and the Florida State University.  His compositions have been recorded by artists such as Stuart Neill (tenor soloist with the Metropolitan Opera), David Kim (Concertmaster of the Philadelphia Orchestra) and Anne Martindale Williams (Principal Cellist with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra).

Currently, he is the Director of SoundForth, a sacred music publishing company.  He lives in Simpsonville with his wife, Nancy and their four children.