This season “the alluringly dusky-voiced mezzo soprano” Nicole Piccolomini makes her debut at Michigan Opera Theater in her signature role of Maddalena RIGOLETTO and joins the Dallas Symphony for Schwertleite DIE WALKÜRE. Other highlights include de Falla’s EL AMOR BRUJO with the Orchestra Filarmonica Campana at Teatro Diana in Naples, Italy and a return to Kunnersdorf, Germany as an Artist-in-Residence for lieder concerts with pianist Christoph Staude in collaboration with her first solo recording featuring works of Wagner, Mahler, Brahms and Pfitzner. Other recent engagements include Ms Piccolomini’s debut with Shanghai Opera as Mistress Quickly FALSTAFF and Theater Bonn in the title-role of Piazzolla’s MARIA DE BUENOS AIRES, as well as The Page SALOME at Deutsche Oper Berlin and  Erda SIEGFRIED at Oper Leipzig.  Upcoming engagements include Klytämnestra ELEKTRA with Theater Bonn.

Last season Ms. Piccolomini returned to Oper Leipzig as Erda DER RING DES NIBELUNGEN and also joined the Venice Chamber Orchestra for the Wesendonk Lieder at Sala concerti di Palazzo Pisani in Venice, Italy.  She made house debuts with Santa Fe Opera as Maddalena RIGOLETTO and at the Teatro Lirico di Cagliari as Solokha CHEREVICHKI in addition to a concert with Italia Arte Fest and the Czech Virtuosi orchestra at the Rudolfinum in Prague.  In past seasons Ms Piccolomini made debuts as Erste Norn GÖTTERDÄMMERUNG at the Dutch National Opera and joined the Caramoor International Music Festival as Maddalena RIGOLETTO and was a featured soloist in a musical celebration of the canonizations of Pope John XXIII and Pope John Paul II at DAR Constitution Hall in Washington D.C. that were televised on PBS and internationally.

Ms. Piccolomini has appeared at Lyric Opera of Chicago as Maddalena RIGOLETTO and has joined the Deutsche Oper Berlin for numerous roles including Fenena Nabucco, Maddalena RIGOLETTO, Erste Norn and Flosshilde GÖTTERDÄMMERUNG, Federica LUISA MILLER, Flosshilde DAS RHEINGOLD, Dritte Dame DIE ZAUBERFLÖTE, Erste Magd ELEKTRA, Schwertleite DIE WALKÜRE, Dryade ARIADNE AUF NAXOS, Contessa di Coigny ANDREA CHENIER, La Marquise de Langlade MARIE VICTOIRE and Rosalia TIEFLAND.

Other recent performances include the title role of Roussel’s Padmâvatî at the Spoleto Festival in Italy; Flosshilde DAS RHEINGOLD, Grimgerde DIE WALKÜRE, Erste Norn and Flosshilde GÖTTERDÄMMERUNG as well as Lola CAVALLERIA RUSTICANA with the Opéra national de Paris; Azucena IL TROVATORE at the Teatro Verdi di Busseto; Ulrica UN BALLO IN MASCHERA at the Teatro Regio di Parma, Teatro Communale di Modena, and Teatro Massimo Bellini di Catania; further performances of Maddalena RIGOLETTO at the Teatro Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, and Opera Delaware; Musetta in Leoncavallo’s LA BOHÈME with Opera de Oviedo; Grimgerde DIE WALKÜRE with the Teatro alla Scala, Staatsoper Berlin, and the the Rundfunk Sinfonieorchester Berlin; Dryade ARIADNE AUF NAXOS with the Bayerische Staatsoper and the title role in Piazzolla’s MARIA DE BUENOS AIRES with Gotham Chamber Opera in New York.

Equally active on the concert stage, she joined New York City Ballet as the soloist in Leonid Desyatnikov Russian Seasons in Saratoga Springs, Bermuda Philharmonic for Handel Messiah, Umbria Music Fest for Verdi Messa da Requiem, and New Jersey Opera Theatre for a concert of opera favorites.

Originally from Long Island, New York, Nicole was a 2010 grant recipient from the William Matheus Sullivan Foundation and has also previously received the Curt Engelhorn Scholarship from the American Berlin Opera Foundation. From 2002-2006, the mezzo soprano was a resident artist at the prestigious Academy of Vocal Arts in Philadelphia. She holds a Bachelor of Music from The Juilliard School and participated in the young artist programs of both the Opera Theatre of Saint Louis and the Caramoor Music Festival.