Dutch soprano Nikki Treurniet discovered her love for classical music early, studying both voice and piano from a young age. It was the music of Mozart and Brahms in particular, that inspired her to commit to serious musical studies.
Currently Nikki has a fest engagement at the Staatsoper Hannover extending her operatic repertoire to roles including Pamina, Zerlina, Despina, Susanna, Gretel and more. Special praise also came for her performance of Iseut la Blonde in a staged version of Frank Martin’s Le Vin Herbé.
This season Nikki makes her debut singing Blanche in Poulenc’s Dialogues des Carmélites, Euridice/La Musica in Monteverdi’s Orfeo and she’ll be back in Lydia Steier’s beautiful regie of Le Nozze di Figaro singing Susanna.
As a light lyric soprano with a warm sound Nikki feels at home singing both early and romantic music and enjoys tackling challenging contemporary fare. Her debut on the opera stage was as Zerlina in Mozart’s Don Giovanni in a production conducted by Huba Hollóköi and directed by Sybrand van der Werf, a performance met with high praise.
Other roles have included the title role in Massenet’s Cendrillon with the Residentie Orchestra, Gretel in Humperdinck’s Hänsel und Gretel with the NJO conducted by Antony Hermus and Scissors in the modern opera The mother of black-winged dreams by Hanna Kulenty conducted by Clark Rundell.
In the 2016/17 season Nikki made her debut at the Dutch National Opera singing the role of Anima Ingrate in Il ballo delle Ingrate, part of the Monteverdi Madrigals staged by Pierre Audi in collaboration with Les Talents Lyriques and Christoph Rousset; this production was also performed in the Brighton Festival.
In 2019 she sang Mrs Nordstrom in Sondheim’s A Little Night Music with the Nederlandse Reisopera which went on tour through The Netherlands.
After making her debut at the Zaterdagmatinee with the soprano solo in Saint-Saens’ Oratorio de Noel conducted by Ed spanjaard, she returned to the zaterdagmatinee in Het Concertgebouw singing Ginevra Scotti in Schreker’s Die Gezeichneten and the role of Sorge in Schumann’s Szenen aus Goethes Faust and Karolka in Janacek’s Jenufa.
she will return to the Concertgebouw in 2023 singing Bach and Verhulst.
Nikki has an extensive concert repertoire which she performs regularly, including Bach’s St. Matthew’s Passion and St. John’s Passion, Weihnachtsoratorio and several cantatas, Brahms’ Ein Deutsches Requiem, Händel’s Messiah and Mozart’s Requiem. She was a guest singer with The Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra singing Mahler’s Symphony No. 4 in a masterclass for conductors led by Danielle Gatti. She has participated in festivals such as Opera Dagen Rotterdam, Grachtenfestival Amsterdam, De Nederlandse Muziekdagen, and the NJO Muziekzomer.
In 2017 Nikki won several prizes at The International Vocal Competition in ‘s Hertogenbosch, amongst other the Opera prize of The Netherlands.
Nikki is strongly committed to the performance of lied and has given song recitals in various halls in The Netherlands together with pianists Andrea Vasi and Daan Boertien, including a preconcert performance for Anne Sofie von Otter in the Muziekgebouw aan ‘t IJ and a recital in The Grachtenfestival.
Last seasons she sang a recital with Barbara Kozelj and Thomas Beijer in the International Liedfestival Zeist.
She earned her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in voice from the Royal Conservatory of The Hague and graduated from the prestigious Dutch National Opera Academy in 2017. Her teachers included Sasja Hunnego and Henny Diemer and she was coached by Peter Nilson, Nathalie Doucet and Phyllis Ferwerda, as well as by theatre coach Peter te Nuyl.
