Nadine Benjamin
soprano
soprano
Award-winning British lyric soprano Nadine Benjamin is a charismatic and versatile artist who is in increasing demand on both the operatic stage and the concert platform. She is also developing renown as an exponent of song, in particular Verdi, Strauss and contemporary American song. Nadine made her Royal Opera House debut in 2020 as a soprano soloist in A NEW DARK AGE, with works by Missy Mazzoli, Anna Meredith and Anna Thorvaldsdottir and her Glyndebourne Festival Opera debut in August 2021 in the title-role LUISA MILLER. From 2018 to 2020, Nadine was an English National Opera Harewood Artist where her roles have included Clara PORGY & BESS, Laura LUISA MILLER, Gerhilde THE VALKYRIE, Mimi and Musetta LA BOHÈME and Mother BLUE.
Upcoming engagements include Amelia UN BALLO IN MASCHERA with Chelsea Opera Group, Moira THE HANDMAID’S TALE and Desdemona in Marina Abramovic’s THE SEVEN DEATHS OF MARIA CALLAS for English National Opera, Strauss Vier Letzte Lieder with Sinfonia Viva and Mahler Symphony No. 4 with the Northern Chamber Orchestra. Other recent roles include the title role AIDA, Cio-Cio-San MADAMA BUTTERFLY, Contessa LE NOZZE DI FIGARO and Nadia THE ICE BREAK for Birmingham Opera Company, Desdemona OTELLO and the title-role TOSCA with Everybody Can! Opera, Mother/Witch HANSEL AND GRETEL for Scottish Opera, the title-role TOSCA and The Countess LE NOZZE DI FIGARO for English Touring Opera, Ermyntrude in Mascagni ISABEAU and Amelia UN BALLO IN MASCHERA with Opera Holland Park and Rosalinde DIE FLEDERMAUS with Iford Arts.
In concert Nadine has performed Strauss Four Last Songs, Verdi Requiem, Poulenc Gloria, Berg Seven Early Songs, Dvorak Stabat Mater, Schubert Mass no. 5 and the soprano solos in Handel Messiah and Mahler Symphony no. 4. Further performances include Barber Knoxville – Summer of 1915, Rossini Petite Messe Solennelle, Dvorak Te Deum and Mendelssohn Elijah. Recent engagements include Barber Knoxville: Summer of 1915 with the English Chamber Orchestra and Vaughan Williams Serenade to Music & Tippett Child of our Time with the London Philharmonic Orchestra at Saffron Hall and the Royal Festival Hall.
Nadine made her debut at the BBC Proms in 2019 as the soprano soloist in Vaughan Williams Serenade to Music under the baton of Martyn Brabbins. She has performed frequently with the Chineke! Orchestra as well as Warwickshire SO, Norfolk SO, West London Sinfonia and The Waynflete Singers. Nadine has given numerous private recitals, most notably at the Palazzo Doria Pamphilj in Rome. In 2014 Nadine created the principal role of Imoinda in the UK premiere of THE CROSSING, an opera by Odaline de la Martinez, for the London Festival of American Music. Also for the Festival, Nadine has performed song cycles by Bolcom, Child and Barber, the European premiere of John Harbison Milosz Songs, and a programme of works by female American composers.
Recent performances include a recital of American song with pianist Nicole Panizza at the Oxford Lieder Festival and BEAM, a multi-media music theatre piece based on her own life story, for Britten Pears Arts at Snape Maltings. Nadine recorded the role of Mrs. Waters in Dame Ethel Smyth’s opera THE BOATSWAIN’S MATE for Retrospect Opera, which was released in 2016 to critical acclaim and broadcast on BBC Radio 3. In collaboration with Nicole Panizza, Nadine recorded Emergence, a selection of songs set to the poems of Emily Dickinson, which was released in 2019 and nominated in the vocal category at that year’s International Classical Music Awards. Nadine’s debut solo CD Love & Prayer was released in 2018. Nadine is a mentor, certified High Performance Coach and Mind Coach, and founded her opera and mentorship programme ‘Everybody Can!’ in 2015 to provide a platform to encourage and support others in recognising and achieving their own visions. An Ambassador for London Music Masters, Nadine was “highly commended” at the 2016 Aviva ‘Women of the Future Awards’ and invited to both Buckingham Palace and 10 Downing Street in recognition of her work as a mentor and singer. In 2023 Nadine was awarded Best Opera Performer at the Black British Theatre Awards for her performance in BLUE with English National Opera. Nadine was made an MBE in the 2021 Queen’s Birthday Honours.
Robert Gilder
Managing Director
rgilder@robert-gilder.com
“Benjamin was tremendous: pouring out her long, curving lines with a fervour that glowed when quiet and burned with a controlled brilliance at the tops of phrases, crowning ensembles and choral numbers with a tingling halo of sound.”
The Spectator
“…this was a star turn, wonderfully animated, alluringly garish and crowned by Benjamin’s gleaming soprano and seductive phrasing. Please can we have her back?”
Opera
“Nadine Benjamin’s scene-stealing Musetta suggested a warmth and humanity that would serve her well as a future Mimì.”
The Sunday Times
“Individually, I would pick out…Nadine Benjamin’s Clara (her ‘Summertime’ is one of the loveliest I’ve heard)….”
The Times
“Benjamin sang exquisitely; her voice has the texture and balance for later Verdi and she uses it with style and expertise.”
Opera