Dr. Nicholas Terry is a Grammy-winning percussionist specializing in contemporary classical music. Based in Los Angeles, he collaborates with leading artists of 20th and 21st century music in live performances, records, and tours. Terry is the Director of Percussion Studies and Assistant Professor of Music at the Hall-Musco Conservatory of Music at Chapman University College of Performing Arts, where he additionally lectures on the subjects of world music and improvisation. He received degrees in music performance from the University of Southern California (DMA), California Institute of the Arts (MFA), and Eastern Illinois University (BM).
In 2008, he founded the Los Angeles Percussion Quartet (LAPQ). The LAPQ is hailed as "mesmerizing" by the New York Times, and praised for "championing composers of thought-provoking and uncompromisingly intelligent music," by Percussive Notes. LAPQ received nominations for Best Small Ensemble Performance in the 55th Grammy Awards, and were featured performers at the 2013 Percussive Arts Society International Convention. In 2005, Terry cofounded Ensemble XII, an international percussion orchestra, to which Pierre Boulez asserts, "…represents the next generation in the evolution of modern percussion." Since 2004, he is a member of the Grammy-winning PARTCH ensemble, a group devoted to the music of American microtonal composer Harry Partch. Terry also co-founded brightwork newmusic, a Pierrot-plus sextet, with Los Angeles pianist Aron Kallay.
He is a multi-year alumnus of the Lucerne Festival Academy, where he apprenticed under members of Ensemble Intercontemporain, Pierre Boulez, and Fritz Hauser. His numerous recorded performances have been released on Albany Records, Innova Recordings, New World Records, ein Klang, Bridge Records, HatHut, Capstone, and Sono Luminus.
In California, Terry's notable performances include work with the Los Angeles Master Chorale, Long Beach Opera, wild Up, Steven Schick & red fish blue fish, Eighth Blackbird, the California E.A.R. Unit, XTET, Argento Ensemble, and Da Capo Chamber Players. He has performed in the Los Angeles Philharmonic's Green Umbrella Series, Monday Evening Concerts, Art of Elan, Music & Conversations, Jacaranda Music, Grand Performances, Microfest, People Inside Electronics, Tuesday's at Monk Space, Fullerton Friends of Music, and the American Maverick Festival at Davies Symphony Hall.
Terry is a Yamaha Performing Artist, and exclusively endorses Sabian Cymbals, Black Swamp Percussion, Remo, and Innovative Percussion. He lives in Pasadena, California.
