The late Dr John Nickson (1949-2002) was a third generation member of one of Australia’s musical dynasties, though his music and style differed significantly from his forebears’. His eclectic interests embraced composition, piano performance and jazz improvisation, arranging, conducting and teaching, though his great love lay with choral music. He was an Honours graduate of the University of Queensland, and completed his Doctorate in Musical Arts at the University of Southern California. He was a former National President of the Australian Choral Conductors’ Association (1987–1990) and subsequently the Vice-President of the Australian National Choral Association (1990-1993, including his Vice-Presidency of the Establishing Committee). He was Conductor of the Brisbane Chorale (1991–1996), and founder of the internationally-recognised Queensland Conservatorium Chamber Choir. He was a Senior Lecturer at the Queensland Conservatorium of Music, and he championed the belief that all choirs – of any age, size, location and ability – should be supported and celebrated. Many of Queensland’s current choral directors studied with John, and they, and a small corpus of published choral works, perhaps remain his greatest legacy.
