Nigel Poole

Nigel learned pipe organ during his school years in England in the 1960s, after his Australian parents moved there. In 1970, he began a music degree at Edinburgh University, where the highly-regarded composer Kenneth Leighton was Reid Professor. When the Music Faculty organised a composition competition, Nigel duly neglected his formal studies and composed a Jazz Concertino for the competition. This piece was highly commended by Kenneth Leighton for its feeling of spontaneity!

Aborting his attempts to study in Edinburgh, Nigel proceeded to spend much of the 1970s to the 1990s playing keyboards on cruise ships and resorts, until in 1999, having returned to Australia, he completed an arts degree, with some computer science included, through the University of New England (UNE).

He then moved to Canberra to work in ICT. He also resumed composing, beginning with some choral settings for liturgical use, which have been sung in several Canberra churches. The Royal School of Church Music’s ACT Branch held an annual composition competition between 2008 and 2016: Nigel submitted an entry every year and was a runner-up on a few occasions.

In 2022, Nigel finally completed his BMus through UNE, with a with a major focus on composition.

In recent times, some of Nigel’s music has been performed overseas. A concert organised by the People’s Orchestra (UK) to celebrate the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham included a medley of short snippets of music by composers from Commonwealth countries. Nigel’s submission was selected as the Australian component. In 2024, two of his organ works, Toccata and Meditation on Monks Gate were performed in London as part of the London Festival of Contemporary Church Music*.

Nigel’s compositional style aims to be melodic and accessible for the most part, but coloured with a few modern rhythmic and harmonic characteristics.

* https://www.lfccm.com/whatson/participants/nigel-poole/