Dr. Alan Nichols is professor of music at Chattanooga State, where he teaches courses in Introduction to Music, Fundamentals of Music, and piano.  Noted for his sensitive and proficient work as a collaborative musician, he also demonstrates command over many standard works of solo piano literature.  He performs frequently at Chattanooga State as a soloist, accompanist, and ensemble musician. He has played keyboard for numerous productions of Chattanooga State’s Theatre department, including the musicals Working, Batboy, Love’s Labour’s Lost, The Secret Garden, Once on This Island, and Lucky Stiff.  Dr. Nichols has been principal keyboardist for the Chattanooga Symphony Orchestra since 2003.  Recent highlights include an appearance as soloist with the CSO in Camille Saint-Saëns’ Carnival of the Animals, as well as the Concerto for Two Pianos by Francis Poulenc.  He has also performed with various chamber orchestras, playing concertos by Bach and Mozart, as well as other works by Hindemith and Gerald Finzi.  Dr. Nichols has been a teacher and performer at the Kentucky Governor’s School for the Arts and has served as an adjudicator for the Young Artist division of the Tennessee Music Teachers Association Competition, Clavierfest Piano Competition at MTSU, the UTC Piano Arts Competition, and the Southern Adventist University Concerto Competition.  In 2020, he joined flutist Cindy Solfest-Wallis and clarinetist Nick Hartline to form the chamber trio Chattywampus, performing light contemporary chamber music as well as established classics of the genre.  Dr. Nichols has degrees from Tennessee Temple University, the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, and the University of Kentucky, where he received the Anne Robinson Accompanying Scholarship, and was chosen to perform the Liszt E-flat Major Concerto with the UK Symphony Orchestra.