Nicholas was born in 1938 and educated at the City of London School and Jesus College, Oxford, where he was Organ Scholar and studied for a degree in music.
He subsequently was appointed organist and master of choristers at Norwich Cathedral, and held this position (together with a part-time lectureship in music at the University of East Anglia) from 1971 to 1994, when he was appointed Chief Executive of the Royal College of Organists.
He was awarded an honorary Fellowship of the Royal School of Church Music (FRSCM) in 2018.
[3] From 1999 to 2013, Nicholas was director of music at St Mary-le-Tower, Ipswich,[4] where he conducted three choirs and promoted a lunchtime concert series.
He has published various works for choir and for organ, and has written Sightsinging (1966) and Muse at St Matthew's (1968).