About
Acclaimed for her commanding stage presence and richly expressive mezzo-soprano, Nicole Piccolomini has established herself as a compelling interpreter of dramatic repertoire across Europe, North America, Asia, and Australia. Equally at home in Wagner, Verdi, Strauss, and Britten, she has appeared with many of the world’s leading opera companies, maintaining a distinguished career that spans more than two decades and a long-standing artistic relationship with Deutsche Oper Berlin.
In the 2026–27 season, Ms. Piccolomini joins the National Centre for the Performing Arts (NCPA) in Beijing, China as Maddalena in Rigoletto and makes two major role debuts as Auntie in Peter Grimes at New National Theatre Tokyo, Japan and Gertrude in Hänsel und Gretel at Teatro La Fenice, Malibran. The previous season included her debut as Azucena in Il trovatore with West Australian Opera, and a return to Deutsche Oper Berlin as Madelon in Andrea Chénier, La Badessa in Suor Angelica, Grimgerde in Die Walküre, Erste Magd in Elektra, and Witwe Browe in a new production of Zar und Zimmermann.
Career highlights include the title role in María de Buenos Aires at Theater Bonn, Oper Halle, and Gotham Chamber Opera; Klytämnestra in Elektra at Theater Bonn; Erda in Das Rheingold and Siegfried at Oper Leipzig; the Countess in Pique Dame with Deutsche Oper Berlin and Theater Freiburg; First Norn in Götterdämmerung at Deutsche Oper Berlin, Staatsoper Stuttgart, Dutch National Opera, and Opéra national de Paris; Grimgerde in Die Walküre at Teatro alla Scala, Opéra national de Paris, and Staatsoper Berlin; Ulrica in Un ballo in maschera at Teatro Regio di Parma; Mistress Quickly in Falstaff with Shanghai Opera; and Maddalena in Rigoletto with Santa Fe Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Deutsche Oper Berlin, and Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino.
On the concert stage, Ms. Piccolomini has appeared with New York City Ballet in Leonid Desyatnikov’s Russian Seasons, the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, Venice Chamber Orchestra, Bermuda Philharmonic, Orchestra Filarmonica Campana, Umbria Music Fest, and numerous recital series featuring works by Wagner, Mahler, Brahms, Berg, and Pfitzner.
A graduate of The Juilliard School and the Academy of Vocal Arts, Ms. Piccolomini is the recipient of a William Matheus Sullivan Foundation Grant and the Curt Engelhorn Scholarship from the American Berlin Opera Foundation. A native of Long Island, New York, she resides in Berlin.
Her artistic collaborations have brought her together with many of today’s most distinguished conductors—including Sir Donald Runnicles, Daniel Barenboim, Asher Fisch, Antonello Manacorda, Jaap van Zweden, and Philippe Jordan—as well as visionary stage directors such as Stefan Herheim, Giancarlo del Monaco, Pierre Audi, Marco Arturo Marelli, Lee Blakeley, and Günter Krämer.