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BIOGRAPHY
American
tenor, Mark Nicolson's career spans diverse
areas of the operatic scene encompassing
standard French, Italian and contemporary
roles. This past season he sang Radamès
in AIDA at Radio France with the
Orchestra Philharmonique International,
Verdi's REQUIEM with the New York
Choral Society as well as Nemorino in L'ELISIR
D'AMORE and Rossini's STABAT MATER
at NJCU, where he maintains a voice studio.
This season marks his first Turridu in CAVALLERIA
RUSTICANA with New Jersey's Coro Lirico.
Recent seasons included his first Lennie
in Opera Grand Rapids' OF MICE AND MEN,
Bacchus in New Orleans Opera's production
of ARIADNE AUF NAXOS, his first MAHLER
8TH SYMPHONY with the Connecticut Symphony,
Radamès in Aida with Opera Illinois,
Don Jose (CARMEN) with both the Festival
Cervantino and with the Mexican National
Symphony, Cavaradossi (TOSCA) with
the Palacio de Belles Artes (Mexico City),
the Atlanta Opera, and New Zealand's Canterbury
Opera, followed by Pinkerton (MADAMA
BUTTERFLY) with Mississippi Opera and
with England's Opera North in an extensive
eight month tour throughout Great Britain.
He also sang the arduous role of Pirro in
the American stage premiere of Rossini's
ERMIONE with Opera Omaha, where he
returned to sing Alfredo in LA TRAVIATA,
Gounod's FAUST with the New Orleans
Opera, Central City Opera, and the Mercury
Theatre in New Zealand, Tamino in Mozart's
DIE ZAUBERFLÖTE with the Hong
Kong Arts Festival and the Dublin Grand
Opera, Des Grieux in Massenet's MANON
in Seoul, Korea, Rodolfo (LA BOHÈME)
in Dallas and in Tampa Bay, where he also
sang Eisenstein (DIE FLEDERMAUS)
and Camille (THE MERRY WIDOW). He
also sang some rarely performed repertoire
including Gernando in both Rossini's ARMIDA
and Haydn's L'ISOLA D'ISABITATA,
Prince Gvidon in the American premiere of
Rimsky Korsakov's LEGEND OF THE TSAR
SALTAN, Busby in the world premiere
of Ulysses Kay's FREDERICK DOUGLAS
with the New Jersey State Opera, the Prince
in Dvorák's RUSALKA (in Czechoslovakian),
Prince Ferdinand in Eaton's THE TEMPEST,
Tassilo in GRÄFIN MARIZA at
New York's Liederkranz, Tom Rakewell in
Stravinsky's THE RAKE'S PROGRESS,
and the Male Chorus in Britten's THE
RAPE OF LUCRETIA with the Wolf Trap
Opera where he also sang the Prince in Prokofiev's
L'AMOUR DES TROIS ORANGES.
Equally at home on the concert stage, Mr.
Nicolson debuted at Carnegie Hall in Mozart's
REQUIEM under the baton of Joseph
Flummerfelt, and in Verdi's REQUIEM
with the Philharmonia Orchestra in the closing
concert of the England's prestigious Chichester
Festival (which was recorded for future
release). He has performed with the Connecticut,
Pittsburgh, Portland, Evansville and Omaha
symphonies as well as the Blossom Festival
Orchestra, the New Haven and Connecticut
Choral Societies, in works including Händel's
MESSIAH, Beethoven's 9TH SYMPHONY,
Tchaikovsky's ROMEO ET JULIETTE,
and Orff's CARMINA BURANA, and Mahler's
8TH SYMPHONY (Symphony of a Thousand).
He has also appeared in a series of Verdi/Mozart
concerts at the Festival Monterrey in Mexico.
He studied with Virginia Zeani, Nicola Rossi-Lemeni,
Franco Corelli, and James King, at Bradley
University, the University of North Texas,
and at Indiana University. Mr. Nicolson
won the Liederkranz Competition, received
a Citation of Excellence from the Birgit
Nilsson Prize Competition, won five study
grants from the New York Wagner Society,
and received a fellowship from Jerome Hines'
Opera Music Theater International.
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