MUCM Brian Nichols

Master Chief Musician Brian Nichols joined the U.S. Coast Guard Band in 2003 and was named Principal Horn in 2005, a position he held until 2019. Over his career, Master Chief Nichols has performed in nearly every state in the U.S., as well as in Canada, England, Taiwan, Puerto Rico, Japan, Italy, Scotland, and Africa.

Before joining the Coast Guard Band, he served in the U.S. Army Band at West Point from 1998 to 2002. He is an alumnus of the Chautauqua Music Festival and Brevard Music Center and a past winner of concerto competitions at Brevard Music Center, the Sarasota Youth Symphony, and the Southeast Horn Workshop.

Master Chief Nichols has been a guest artist and clinician at universities nationwide and at workshops including the International Horn Symposium, the Northeast Women’s Brass Conference, The VCU Brass Fest, and the Southeast and Northeast Horn Workshops. As a soloist with the U.S. Coast Guard Band, he has performed Camille Saint-Saëns’ Morceau de Concert, Paul Dukas’ Villanelle, and led the horn section on Robert Schumann’s Konzertstück for Four Horns.

Notable engagements include performances with the Boston Symphony, July 4th concerts with the New York Philharmonic, The Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo, and multiple appearances at the Midwest Clinic in Chicago. He holds a B.A. in Music from Florida State University, where he studied under Dr. William Capps, and has also studied with members of the Boston Symphony, the Metropolitan Opera, and Dale Clevenger of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.

In addition to playing horn, Master Chief Nichols serves as the Command Senior Enlisted Leader of the U.S. Coast Guard Band, Drum Major of the U.S. Coast Guard Marching Band, and Rating Force Master Chief for all Coast Guard musicians. He is a graduate of the Coast Guard Chief Petty Officer’s Academy Class 151, the Senior Enlisted Leadership Course, and the Team Leader/Facilitator Course. He also served as treasurer of the Southeast Connecticut Chapter of the Chief Petty Officer’s Association from 2015–2022. He was initiated as a Chief in 2007 after completing CCTI.