| Aaron St.Clair Nicholson |
Introduction “…the opera belongs to the bird catcher Papageno and Aaron St. Clair Nicholson handled it with beautiful comic timing and a rich voice to match.” Miami Herald, Enrique Fernandez BiographyBaritone Aaron St. Clair Nicholson has established himself as an artist of the first rank, winning praise for his superb vocal gifts and the dramatic integrity he brings to his performances. Writing in the San Francisco Chronicle, Joshua Kosman singled him out, noting that “…as Ford, baritone Aaron St. Clair Nicholson gave a virtuosic display of vigorous full-throated singing and all out physical comedy.” He made his Metropolitan Opera debut as Schaunard in LA BOHEME conducted by Domingo and followed those performances with Papageno in DIE ZAUBERFLÖTE conducted by Levine. Further Met duties included his assignment as cover artist for the role of Clyde Griffeths in Tobias Picker’s AN AMERICAN TRAGEDY. He was Figaro in IL BARBIERE DE SIVIGLIA for Florida Grand Opera and starred again as the wily barber in a new production of the Rossini masterpiece for Glimmerglass Opera. He has been heard in the title role in DON GIOVANNI for L’Opéra de Montréal, as Valentin in FAUST for Vancouver Opera, Mercutio in ROMÉO ET JULIETTE for Opera Lyra, Ottawa and Fauré’s REQUIEM for the Atlanta Symphony, a work he performed at Festival Lanaudiere in Québec. In 2010/11 he returns to Vancouver Opera for the World Premiere of LILLIAN ALLING, to Opera Lyra Ottawa for Ping (TURANDOT), to Florida Grand Opera for CYRANO DE BERGERAC and to the Met to cover Chou en Lai in NIXON IN CHINA. His schedule also includes MESSIAH for the Edmonton Symphony and CARMINA BURANA for orchestras in Calgary and Ventura, California. Nicholson’s busy 2009-2010 season included Papageno in DIE ZAUBERFLÖTE for L’Opéra de Montréal, Pirate King in PIRATES OF PENZANCE for Edmonton Opera, Count Almaviva in LE NOZZE DI GIGARO for Vancouver Opera, and Ping in TURANDOT for Opera Lyra Ottawa. He opened his 2008-2009 season with Athanaël in THAÏS for Pacific Opera Victoria and continued with Frederic in LAKMÉ and the Count in LE NOZZE DI FIGARO, both for Florida Grand Opera, and IL BARBIERE DI SIVIGLIA for Calgary Opera. In concert, he was heard in Britten’s WAR REQUIEM for Vancouver Symphony and MESSIAH with the Rochester Philharmonic. The dashing baritone’s 2007-2008 season included Mozart’s roguish Don for New York City Opera, and later in the season he repeated the role for Ottawa’s Opera Lyra. He returned to l’Opéra de Montréal for IL BARBIERE DI SIVIGLIA, Vancouver Opera for Marcello in LA BOHEME and was heard in Rochester in CARMINA BURANA and with the Vancouver Bach Choir in a new work commissioned from John Estacio. An alumnus of the Glimmerglass and Merola programs for young artists, Nicholson starred in Glimmerglass Opera’s THE GOOD SOLDIER SCHWEIK as Lt. Lukash and was heard as Sonora in their production of LA FANCIULLA DEL WEST. Further credits include Harlekin in ARIADNE AUF NAXOS and Ping in TURANDOT for L’Opéra de Montréal, Papageno in DIE ZAUBERFLÖTE for Florida Grand Opera, and Charlie in Estacio’s FILUMENA at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa. He appeared with both Orchestra London and Brott Summer Music in CARMINA BURANA and with the Vancouver Bach Choir in MESSIAH and has been heard as Figaro in IL BARBIERE DI SIVIGLIA for Opera Ontario, Tarquinius in THE RAPE OF LUCRETIA for l’Opéra de Montréal, Mercutio in ROMÉO ET JULIETTE for Florida Grand Opera and the Calgary Opera, and Escamillo in CARMEN for Pacific Opera Victoria. The Abbotsford, British Columbia native was a Resident Artist at Tri-Cities Opera in New York, appearing as Belcore in L’ELISIR D’AMORE, Dr. Falke in DIE FLEDERMAUS and Sharpless in MADAMA BUTTERFLY. He was Guglielmo in COSI FAN TUTTE for Western Opera Theater and was also a member of Seattle Opera’s young artist program. Orchestras in the United States and Canada have engaged Mr. Nicholson for ELIJAH, MESSIAH, and CARMINA BURANA as well as works by Fauré and Vaughan Williams. The George London competition finalist has been heard with the Binghamton Symphony, Victoria Symphony, Bellevue Philharmonic, at the San Francisco Opera Center and with the Tri-Cities Opera Orchestra. Nicholson’s awards include the Richmond F. Gold Career Grant, the Karl Muller Performance Award, a career incentive grant from Seattle Opera and the Sullivan Foundation Award for role preparation assistance. August 2010
Full RepertoireOpera
Concert
Education Bachelor of Music from Western Washington University -Outstanding Graduating Senior, College of Music Masters of Music from Binghamton University - Outstanding Graduate, College of Music Tri-Cities Resident Artist Training Program Seattle Opera Young Artist Program - Glimmerglass Opera, Young Artists Programme
Awards
Engaged By
Reviews“Nicholson is blessed with a manly, smooth voice of robust beauty, but his greatest gift is the way he can expressively play with nuance.” The Globe and Mail – Paula Citron
“St. Clair Nicholson’s portrayal of Valentin’s death scene almost stopped the show.” ( Vancouver Opera – FAUST) Opera Canada – Christopher Darling
“Aaron St. Clair Nicholson shows that he is one of the most exciting performers around. He has a manly, rolling expressive voice and wonderful stage instincts, as well as tall, matinee idol good looks.” Classical 96.3 FM – Paula Citron
“Aaron St. Clair Nicholson was outstanding as Figaro, his strong, agile baritone romping through Largo al factorum with such controlled abandon, it brought the house down. Coupled with his easy stage presence and great sense of fun he hammed it up and sparked the whole production—and that’s just what FIGARO is all about.” The Record – Harry Currie
“As Ford Aaron St. Clair Nicholson gave a virtuosic display of vigorous, full throated singing and all-out physical comedy.” Joshua Kosman
“St. Clair Nicholson’s dynamic rendition of the ERLKÖNIG captured the essence of the four characters of Goethe’s tale.” Hamilton Spectator – Leonard Turnevicius
“ Baritone Aaron St. Clair Nicholson as Papageno, the bird catcher, was outstanding. In a directorial coup that had him ‘working’ the audience in the aisles in his last big aria, he won hearts and minds with his performance. At one time he managed to spell out the march from Mozart’s Figaro on his flute; a clever musician indeed with a fine vocal command we knew he had from the time of his debut in Florida Grand Opera’s SZULAMIT last year.” Coral Gables Gazette – Alan Hearn
“Aaron St. Clair Nicholson…exciting young singer, with a rich yet agile voice, a charismatic presence and great comic timing, he seems born to play the role of Figaro. He connects with the audience the instant he strides on stage and lights up every scene he’s in. Besides this, he really does play the guitar during Lindoro’s serenade and can juggle three oranges while singing a fantastic “ Largo al factorum”.” Theatreworld, Stage Door – Christopher Hoile
“Aaron St. Clair Nicholson;s portrayal of Figaro – has a lot of flair, making his scenes some of the most beguiling in the production. His fluid baritone…his assumed persona has plenty of verve.” Buffalo News – Garaud MacTaggart
“Aaron St. Clair Nicholson is a standout as the beleaguered Lt. Lukash.” The Globe and Mail – Paula Citron |