Etienne Nillesen is a Dutch sound artist based in Cologne.

His solo work is built around two specially tuned snare drums, set in a precise microtonal relationship determined by the drum’s own acoustics. Rather than rhythm or attack, the music is about the relationship between pitches — the overtones, interference patterns, and harmonies that arise between them — sound that fills a room, changes character as it moves through space, and is heard differently depending on where and how one listens. A rich and constantly shifting sound world emerges.

The music is patient. Small differences in intonation, pressure, and contact set things in motion. The sound keeps opening. Form is not given in advance. It emerges from what happens between the pitches, the space, and the listener. Each performance becomes a shared experience between performer and audience, in which attention, space, and acoustic conditions all become part of the music. No two performances sound the same.

His work has been presented at Ruhrtriennale, Gare du Nord Basel, Forum Neue Musik Luzern, Meakusma, and nyMusikk Bergen, among other contemporary music festivals and concert series across Europe, North America, and South America. He is a faculty member at ArtEZ University of the Arts. Grants from Musikfonds, the Ministry of Culture and Science NRW, and the Art Foundation of NRW have supported his work.

TWEE out now on Sofa Music

TWEE (2026) Released on SOFA Music in co-production with Deutschlandfunk. Recorded at Deutschlandfunk Kammermusiksaal, Cologne.

“What one hears is a long stream of iridescent beauty.” — Martin Hufner, nmz

EN (2024) Released on SOFA Music in co-production with Deutschlandfunk. Recorded at Deutschlandfunk Kammermusiksaal, Cologne.

“[…] once we let Nillesen cast his spell, an entire world opens up.”
— Peter Margasak, Nowhere Street