Phillip Rista Nimmons OC OOnt (June 3, 1923 – April 5, 2024) was a Canadian jazz clarinetist, composer, bandleader, and educator.

Nimmons played "free jazz" and mainstream styles, and other genres including classical music.

[2] He played as a jazz clarinetist in Vancouver during the late 1940s, appearing on CBC Radio with dance bands.

He graduated from the University of British Columbia, then studied clarinet at the Juilliard School in New York City, and composition at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto.

Along with Oscar Peterson and Ray Brown in the 1960s, Nimmons founded the Advanced School of Contemporary Music in Toronto.

[3][4] His composition "The Torch" was commissioned for the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary, performed by a big band led by Rob McConnell.

[2] Other compositions by Nimmons include "Sleeping Beauty and the Lions" for concert band premiered at Expo 86, and "Moods and Contrasts" for the Esprit Orchestra in 1994.

[1] Nimmons met his wife Noreen Liëse Spencer at the Royal Conservatory of Music, and had three children.

[11] On November 21, 2005, the Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada recognized Nimmons with the Lifetime Achievement Award.