Nicolas Collins

Nicolas Collins (born March 26, 1954 in New York City) is a composer of mostly electronic music and former student of Alvin Lucier. He received a B.A. and M.A. from Wesleyan University. Subsequently, he was a Watson Fellow.

Nicolas Collins was "a pioneer in the use of microcomputers in live performance, and has made extensive use of 'home-made' electronic circuitry, radio, found sound material, and transformed musical instruments." He has presented over 300 concerts and installations in Europe, Japan, and the United States as a solo artist and as a member of various ensembles. He is a member of The Impossible Music Group with David Weinstein, David Shea, Ted Greenwald, and Tim Spelios.

Collins is a prominent curator of performance and installation art, and has been a curator, policy adviser, and board member for numerous cultural organizations. For example, in the early 1990s he was both artistic Co-Director at STEIM (Studio for Electro Instrumental Music), located in Amsterdam and a German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) composer-in-residence in Berlin. Collins is currently Editor-in-Chief of the Leonardo Music Journal, a peer-reviewed academic journal published by the MIT Press. He is also the chair of the sound department of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.

In 2006 Collins' book Handmade Electronic Music: The Art of Hardware Hacking was published by Routledge. An expanded, updated edition was published in 2009. He was a major influence on the establishment of the Musical Electronics Library in New Zealand.

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