Born in Edinburgh in 1948, she emerged through jazz and experimental theatre before becoming a key member of the Spontaneous Music Ensemble in the late 1960s. Her practice has always moved fluidly between collaboration and collective organisation: from founding the feminist-led Improvising Group and the ensemble Voice, to leading workshops that merge performance with social inquiry. Over the years, Nicols has shaped a singular body of work — fiercely open, politically grounded, and deeply attuned to the expressive potential of voice.

At Intonal, Nicols appears solo — a rare and intimate set for voice and piano, drawing primarily from her two albums on Café OTO’s OTOROKU label. These recordings, released in recent years, reveal a quieter but no less radical facet of her artistry: songs that unfold with directness and care, unguarded and unhurried. This is Nicols not as collaborator but as witness — to history, to improvisation, to the act of singing itself.