Peter Nelson is a composer and Emeritus Professor of Music and Technology at the University of Edinburgh. He is a member of In the Making Collective, making sound for dance.

Peter Nelson was born in Glasgow (1951) and studied English Literature and Music at the University of Glasgow. After further study at the University of Edinburgh and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), he taught at the Universities of Glasgow and Nottingham, and since 1986 at the University of Edinburgh, where he established the electronic and computer music studios, and created a research group in Music and Artificial Intelligence.

In the 1980s, he worked closely with the composer, Iannis Xenakis and his UPIC computer music system, as an Associate of Les Ateliers UPIC, composing a number of works for the UPIC. He has published writing on the work of Xenakis, and on topics in Music Technology, Music Informatics, and rhythm theory.

Between 1979-2013, with the composer Geoffrey King, he was a founder and artistic director of ecat (Edinburgh Contemporary Arts Trust). This Arts Council funded organisation presented new music events in Scotland, and commissioned and performed more than 100 works from new and established composers in Scotland and internationally. Between 1994-2023 he was editor of the international journal, Contemporary Music Review published by Routledge. Between 2014-2018, he devised and directed the International Festival Encounters programme for the Edinburgh International Festival, supporting early career creative artists, directors, and curators through discussion and contact with leading international professionals.

His compositional work has been performed and commissioned by organisations including the BBC, Radio France, Edinburgh International Festival, Les Ateliers UPIC, Netherlands Radio Chamber Orchestra, Scottish Chamber Orchestra, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Dunedin Consort, Teatro La Fenice Venice, andSpinnerei Festival Leipzig.