Nina Van Essen

The blossoming career of Mezzo-soprano Nina van Essen is bringing her all over the world.

From the most prominent Opera stages to concert halls such as Teatro alla Scala di Milano, Théatre des Champs-Elysées, Theater an der Wien, Royal Danish Opera, Dutch National Opera, Zaterdag Matinee Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Oper Leipzig, and many more. During her time being part of the ensemble of Staatsoper Hannover (2019-2024) she has grown a diverse repertoire, including; Hänsel from Hänsel und Gretel by E.Humperdinck, Rosina from Barbiere di Siviglia by G.Rossini, Mercédès from Bizets Carmen, Ruggiero from Händels Alcina, Piacere from Händels il Trionfo, Romeo from V.Bellini’s I Capuleti e I Montecchi, Orfeo in Gluck’s Orfeo ed Euridice, Cherubino and Dorabella from Mozarts classics Le nozze di Figaro and Cosi fan tutte.

New roles in her 24/25 season include; Siebel in Gounod’s Faust, Hermia in Britten’s Midsummer night’s dream, Arbate in Mozart’s Mitridate Re di ponto and Three in We are the lucky ones, a world premiere by Philip Venables.

Nina has already worked with some of the worlds leading stage directors, for example; Lydia Steier, Immo Karaman, Barbora Horáková, Tatjana Gürbaca, Elizabeth Stöppler and conductors like; Sir Mark Elder, Reinbert de Leeuw, Alexander Joel, Stéphane Denève and more. Other engagements include for example the collaborations with Festival Musique et Vins, Seiji Ozawa Matsumoto festival, Serie Grote Zangers, ASKO Schönberg Ensemble, Grachtenfestival, Nouvel Opéra de Fribourg, Residentie Orchestra, les Talens Lyrique and Theater Magdeburg. Her extensive concert repertoire includes Mezzo solo parts in Bach’s St. Matthew Passion, Mozart’s Mass in C minor, Rossini’s Petite Messe Solenelle, and orchestral song cycles such as Les nuits d’été de Berlioz and Ravel’s Trois poèmes de Stephane Mallarmé.

Nina won the first prize ánd the best female voice award in the ninth edition (2023) of Concorso Lirico Internazionale di Portofino. In the International Vocalist competition in ‘s- Hertogenbosch Nina won the audience prize, the Annett Andriessen concert prize (concert-tour in Ningbo/China) Nina graduated in 2018 from the Dutch National Opera Academy and received her Bachelor degree summa cum laude, with distinction at the Royal Conservatoire of The Hague. In the context of an Erasmus.

Exchange she studied in France, Lyon at the C.N.S.M.D.