studied composition with Bent Sørensen, Hans Abrahamsen, Niels Rosing-Schow, and Hans Peter Stubbe Teglbjærg at the Royal Danish Academy of Music, where he obtained a BA, MA and postgraduate masters degree. He continued his studies at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Graz with Beat Furrer. His main focus has been acoustic music in the contemporary genre, often combined with electroacoustic or electronic music such as in his Sinfonietta, Emphatische Ellipse, String Quartet no. 2, or in the piece Du hast gesagt for song and electronics. The musical language of Nicolai Worsaae has often been called expressive and very direct. Contrasts and energetic variety are important parameters in building the formal structures as well is the relationship between development and repetition. The inspiration of musique concrète in treating real sounds as musical material with focus on objects and their relations or context is transformed into the use of classical instruments and their specific sound qualities and physical limits. This idea and technique can notably be observed in the orchestral work Zugendlos and in Emphatische Ellipse, works fundamentally inspired by the composer’s own experiences with concrete sounds or sound phenomena. A direct consequence is the growing interest in different types of noise, which has become more and more visible in Worsaae’s latest musical language, such as in Gesang durch eine Mauer and in the String Quartet no. 2.
The interest for performative elements and special setups is present in later works such as Et frappe and Du hast gesagt, where the musicians are as much part of a well-planned stage play as they are musical performers.
Nicolai Worsaae’s music has been performed by a number of ensembles in Denmark and beyond, including Ensemble intercontemporain, Ensemble Recherche, Arditti Quartet, London Sinfonietta, Oslo Sinfonietta, Athelas Sinfonietta, Stockholm Curious Chamber Players, Gothenburg Opera, Ensemble Figura, Ars Nova Malmö, and Scenatet. In spring 2010, Worsaae made his debut as a composer at a Royal Danish Academy of Music concert organised in collaboration with London Sinfonietta, featuring two other graduating composers: Christian Winther Christensen and Rune Glerup. Together with Simon Loeffler, Christian Winther Christensen, and Regin Petersen, Nicolai Worsaae is one of the founders of the composers’ group Dygong, a platform specialised in new music inspired by or in collaboration with other art disciplines. The idea is to present new music in a different way by conceptualising and rethinking the classical concert, using visual and auditory elements to create an uninterrupted movement. Dygong has played at numerous festivals such as 2009 Nordic Music Days in Oslo, Copenhagen in 2010, 2008 SPOR, 2010 Borealis festival in Bergen, 2010 Athelas, 2011 UNM in Copenhagen, 2011 Nordic Music Days in Copenhagen, and 2011 Wundergrund festival in Copenhagen. Nicolai has received many scholarships and prizes, including the annual prize of the Danish Composers’ Society (2008), Idella Fund (2008), Danish Art Council (2010, 2011, 2012), and the Sonning Fund (2010).
He is a member of the Danish Composers’ Society. Many of his works are published at the Edition·S.

Major works: Figurine for ensemble (2002–3), Ancient Neon Rain for violin, cello and piano (2003), Image Obscure for ensemble and electronics (2004–5), Quaint 4 Songs for soprano, violin and piano (2005), String Quartet no 1 Brillance (2006), Fastbreaks for ensemble (2006), Im Baumgarten for soprano, tenor, bass and piano (2005–7), Zugendlos for orchestra (2007), Emphatische Ellipse for orchestra (2008), Gesang durch eine Mauer for soprano, violin and piano (2008), String Quartet no. 2 (2009), Brutalized Beauty for ensemble and electronics (2009–10), Schritte for organ (2010), Festpolonaise Chorofob for piano (2010), Conception I–II for violin and double bass (2010), Du hast gesagt for voice and electronics (2010), Medea Song for soprano, mezzo-soprano, baritone, bass, clarinet, percussion and double bass (2010), Refugee for soprano and ensemble (2011), Offertorium for three musicians (2011), Wesenheit ab Wesenheit for soprano, percussion, clarinet and double bass (2011), On Top of for video and electronics (2011), Upon Your Body I am Crawling for accordion (2012), Et frappe for amplified upright piano and singer (2012), Gate for guitar, accordion, violin, piano and double bass (2012), Kuro ton-neru for ensemble and video (2013), Epilogus 1 “Organum” for piano and string trio (2013), On Top of II for video and electronics (2013), Zwischen den beiden Kammern for ensemble (2013), Eight and a Half Pint for orchestra (2013), Du hast gesagt 2–3 for voice, electronics and double bass (2014), WaWV for soprano, clarinet, percussion and double bass (2014).