MADE FOR OPERA | Nadine Sierra

Nadine Sierra

Praised for her vocal beauty, seamless technique, and abundant musicality, Nadine Sierra is being hailed as one of the most promising, young talents in opera today. She was named the Richard Tucker Award Winner in 2017 and was awarded the 2018 Beverly Sills Artist Award by the Metropolitan Opera. Having made a string of successful debuts at the Met, Teatro alla Scala, Opéra national de Paris, and Staatsoper Berlin, she has become a fixture at many of the top houses around the world. In 2018, Deutsche Grammophon/Universal Music labels released her debut album, There’s a Place for Us, followed by a second album, Made For Opera, in 2022.

In the 2022/23 season, Sierra appear as Violetta (La traviata) at Metropolitan Opera, Gilda (Rigoletto) at Teatro di San Carlo and at the Staatsoper Berlin, Manon at Gran Teatre del Liceu. Moreover, she makes her role debuts as Amina (La sonnambula) and Liù (Turandot) at Teatro Real. On the concert platform, she sings Ein deutsches Requiem at the Metropolitan Opera, as well as concerts and recitals in San Francisco, Prague, Paris and Budapest.

Sierra’s most recent seasons included the roles of Violetta at Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Lucia at Metropolitan Opera, Bavarian State Opera, Teatro di San Carlo and Gran Teatre del Liceu, Gilda at Paris Opera and Teatro alla Scala, Adina (L’elisir d’amore) at Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires, Susanna (Le nozze di Figaro) and Gilda under the baton of Daniel Barenboim at the Staatsoper Berlin, where she also appeared as Nannetta (Falstaff) and Sophie (Der Rosenkavalier); Susanna and Gilda at the Metropolitan Opera, Manon and Juliette (Roméo et Juliette) at the Opéra national de Bordeaux. Concert appearances included appearances with Berliner Philharmoniker under the baton of Gustavo Dudamel, Philadelphia Orchestra conducted by Yannick Nézet-Séguin; Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia with Antonio Pappano. She also performed in recital at Palm Beach Opera, Grand Théâtre de Genève and in Kansas City (Harriman-Jewell Series), and she joined Andrea Bocelli in a tour across the States.

Other notable engagements from past seasons include the title role in Lucia di Lammermoor at Teatro La Fenice, Zerlina (Don Giovanni), Flavia (Eliogabalo), Pamina (Die Zauberflöte) and Norina (Don Pasquale) at Opéra National de Paris, Zerlina and Ilia (Idomeneo) at the Metropolitan Opera, Juliette, Lucia, Musetta, Pamina and Contessa at San Francisco Opera. In 2016, she and Leo Nucci made headlines after her house debut in Rigoletto at Teatro alla Scala when, on opening night, they were prompted by the audience to encore the duet, breaking a La Scala tradition dating back to Toscanini. Among many of her concert appearances ranging from Carnegie Hall, Arena di Verona, Musikverein in Vienna, Tanglewood and Ravinia music festivals, Dallas Opera, Park Avenue Armory in NYCm, the soprano also had the privilege and honor of performing twice at the U.S. Supreme Court for the Honorable Justices.

Throughout Ms. Sierra’s young career, she has taken home several awards and is the youngest winner to date for both the Marilyn Horne Foundation Vocal Competition and the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, as recounted by Nick Romeo in his book Driven: Six Incredible Musical Journeys (2011), a chapter of which is devoted to Sierra’s Grand Finals triumph. She also took home first prizes in 2010 at the George London Competition, Gerda Lissner International Competition, and Loren Zachary Competition, and was a recipient of a Richard Tucker Music Foundation Study Grant. In 2013, she placed first at the Neue Stimmen, Caballé, and Veronica Dunne International Singing Competitions, and won a Richard Tucker Music Foundation Career Grant.

Ms. Sierra fell in love with opera at a young age, after watching a VHS of La bohème, and began voice lessons at the age of six in her home state of Florida. Although she made her professional debut as a teenager with the Palm Beach Opera, she decided to continue studying, and received her bachelor’s degree from Mannes College the New School for Music. Following graduation, she went on to participate in the Adler Fellowship Program at the San Francisco Opera, forming a lasting relationship with the company.

She has been featured in Vogue, Nylon, Bon Appetite, Opera News, on the cover of Classical Singer magazine, and numerous international TV and print media. She maintains an active presence on social media, where she interacts with her followers by answering messages, comments and questions on a daily basis.