尼可·穆利是一位年少成名，游走于古典和流行之间作曲家、钢琴家。成长在一个艺术气息浓厚的家庭，母亲是画家，父亲是纪录片工作者，从小就接触到世界各地的文化，另外作为一名别人常常另眼相看的“同性恋男孩”长大对穆利之后的音乐风格也有很大影响。他曾在哥伦比亚大学学习英文文学和阿拉伯语，还是著名的茱莉亚音乐学院硕士毕业生。不到三十岁的他已经得到在美国芭蕾剧团、波士顿管弦乐团、芝加哥交响乐团、克莱尔学院合唱团创作和表演的机会，作品曾在纽约卡内基音乐厅、美国惠特尼艺术博物馆等音乐圣地首演。他与作曲家、配乐大师菲利普·格拉斯有过密切合作并深深受其影响，还因为精湛的钢琴和钢片琴演奏技巧，为女歌手比约克的专辑《Medúlla》负责键盘和编曲，06年他更比约克御用制作人 Valgeir Sigurosson新创的厂牌Bedroom Community 旗下发行了个人首张古典音乐专辑。2008年他取代了大名鼎鼎的阿尔贝托·伊格莱西亚斯为史蒂芬·戴德利执导的《朗读者》一片创作主题配乐。他与电影的缘分是从2002年同一导演的《时时刻刻》开始的，菲利普·格拉斯当时凭借该片得到了奥斯卡原创音乐的提名。他还与格拉斯合作过《丑闻笔记》的配乐。

Born in Vermont in 1981 and raised in Providence, Rhode Island, Nico Muhly graduated from Columbia University in 2003 with a degree in English Literature. In 2004 he received a Masters in Music from the Juilliard School, where he studied composition under Christopher Rouse and John Corigliano.

Muhly’s orchestral works have been premiered by the American Symphony Orchestra, the Juilliard Orchestra, the Boston University Tanglewood Institute Orchestra (It Remains to Be Seen , a commission celebrating their 40th anniversary in 2006), the Boston Pops (Wish You Were Here, 2007), and the Chicago Symphony (Step Team, in 2007).

In 2005, the Clare College Choir broadcast Muhly’s evensong canticles live on BBC3, and New York’s Saint Thomas Church commissioned and performed his Bright Mass with Canons, a work that has entered their regular repertoire. With designer/illustrator Maira Kalman, he created the "finely wrought" (New York Times) cantata on Strunk & White’s The Elements of Style that premiered in the New York Public Library, landing him on 2005 year’s-best list of New York magazine.

Film credits include his scores for Choking Man (2006) and Joshua (2007), and he has worked extensively with Philip Glass as editor, keyboardist, and conductor for numerous film and stage projects. Recently, he conducted excerpts from Einstein on the Beach for a new ballet by Benjamin Millepied at the Opéra de Paris. In October, 2007, the American Ballet Theater premiered Muhly and Millepied’s collaboration From Here On Out, a commission for their 2007-2008 season, and in October of 2008, the Paris Opéra ballet will premiere Triade, a newly commissioned collaboration between Muhly and Millepied.

He has also lent his skills as performer, arranger and conductor to other musicians, including Bjrk (Medúlla, Drawing Restraint 9, Volta), Bonnie "Prince" Billy (The Letting Go), and Antony of Antony and the Johnsons. His work with Antony has included performances in Arnhem, Leeds, and New York City, and in February 2007, they worked together on a new Shakespeare setting for The Sonnet Project, a program curated by Gavin Bryars for Opera North and the Royal Shakespeare Company. 2008 saw the release of such collaborations as Ekvílibríum, the highly anticipated solo debut of Icelandic musician Valgeir Sigursson, and All Is Well by American folk singer Sam Amidon. Sigursson released both discs on his own Bedroom Community records, a label he inaugurated by producing Muhly’s first album, Speaks Volumes (2007). In the months leading up to Speaks Volumes’ American release, Muhly was invited to present concerts of his chamber music at both Carnegie Hall and the Whitney Museum. Future recording projects include a second solo record, titled Mothertongue.