Ted Nichols

Theodore "Ted" Nichols (born October 2, 1928) is a composer, conductor, arranger, educator and minister of music.

He was born as Theodore Nicholas Sflotsos in Missoula, Montana in 1928 to Nicholas Theodore Sflotsos (first generation Greek immigrant) and Josephine Ellen (Schomer) Sflotsos. He was raised in the Greek Orthodox Church and Catholic churches (1928–46), later becoming an evangelical. Ted's parents moved to Spokane, Washington where he graduated from John R. Rogers High School. He then joined the Navy, where he was trained as an aviation electrician. During specialist training in Jacksonville, Florida, he played saxophone in the Navy swing band, he also plays the violin and clarinet. He was later transferred to Corpus Christi, Texas, where he founded, directed and played in the base swing band. In 1948, he legally changed his name to Ted Nichols. After meeting his future wife, Nichols surrendered his life to Christian music ministry.

He met Doris Jane Carson in Corpus Christi, TX while in the Navy (1947). They married in 1950, and have two sons (CA) and one daughter (WA). Doris died in 2009. He married Catherine, Doris's younger sister, in 2011 and they reside in Williams, AZ.

After leaving the Navy, Nichols attended Baylor University received his BM (1952). Upon commencement of Korean War he joined the Air Force ROTC program. Upon graduation, the Air Force sent him to Sampson Air Force Base in New York where he founded and then became Commanding Officer of the Air Force Bandsmen Training School, recruiting musicians from Eastman School of Music, Juilliard School, and other Eastern music schools.

After the military service, Ted returned to Corpus Christi, founded and directed the Corpus Christi Youth Symphony while teaching in public school, and earning his MA at Texas A&I University . Wanting to work on a doctorate and having a desire to compose for films, Nichols and family moved to CA.

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