Ema Nikolovska
Born in North Macedonia, Mezzo-Soprano Ema Nikolovska grew up in Toronto where she studied violin at The Glenn Gould School, before studying voice with Helga Tucker. She received her Master’s in Voice at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama in London, where she also completed the Opera Course. Ema was a BBC New Generation Artist from 2019-2022. In 2019 she won first prize at the International Vocal Competition in ‘s-Hertogenbosch, the Ferrier Loveday Song Prize (Kathleen Ferrier Awards), and was a prize-winner at the Young Classical Artists Trust (YCAT) International Auditions. In 2022 she became a recipient of the prestigious Borletti-Buitoni Trust award.
In the 2025/26 season, she sings Boulez’ Le Marteau sans maître under Jean Deroyer and Ensemble intercontemporain at Gulbenkian Fundaçāo, returns to Staatsoper Berlin with Offenbach’s Les Contes d’Hoffmann under Bertrand de Billy and Staatskapelle Berlin, Wigmore Hall recital with Hikaru Kanki to include Strauss, Rachmaninoff and Alma Mahler. In opera, Ema makes her house debuts as Cherubino Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro under Pierre Dumoussaud with Opernhaus Zurich and later title role Neuwirth’s Orlando under Johannes Kalitzke at Komische Berlin.
Elsewhere last season, Ema revived the lead role of the Woman in George Benjamin’s Picture a Day Like This at Opéra du Rhin in Strasbourg, having made her debut in the role at the Royal Opera House’s Linbury Theatre the season prior. Following her tremendous role debut as Octavian Der Rosenkavalier at the Deutsche Staatsoper Berlin in 2023, an alumnus of their Opera Studio, she returned for Stéfano Roméo et Juliette. Previous roles at the theatre include Lucile in Henze’s Cubana, Christian Jost’s Die Arabische Nacht, Second Lady Die Zauberflöte, Schäferin Jenůfa, Giovanna Rigoletto, and Diane in Rameau’s Hippolyte et Aricie under Sir Simon Rattle.
Previous concerts include Mozart’s Coronation Mass with Mozarteum Orchestra Salzburg and Roberto González-Monjas at the Salzburg Festival, Schumann’s Das Paradies und die Peri and Mozart’s Requiem with the Staatskapelle Berlin and Marc Minkowski, Jaquet de la Guerre’s Céphale et Procris on tour with Reinoud van Mechelen and Nocte Temporis in Versailles, Namur and Brussels, Mendelssohn’s Elijah with the Munchener Rundfunkorchester and Howard Arman, Mozart’s Requiem with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and Adrian Partington, Stravinsky’s Pulcinella with Musikkollegium Winterthur and Barbara Hannigan, and Ravel’s Chansons Madecasses with the Mahler Chamber Orchestra and George Benjamin.
An internationally celebrated recitalist, in the 23/24 season her partners included Martha Argerich, Andras Shiff, Charles Richard-Hamelin, and guitarist, Sean Shibe in concerts throughout Europe and her debut recital tour of North America, including her debut at Carnegie’s Weill Hall. At Wigmore Hall, where she is a regular favourite, she was an artist in residence, performing five diverse programmes across the season. Elsewhere, Ema has performed at the Pierre Boulez Saal, Konzerthaus Berlin, the Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, and at the Schubertíada Vilabertran, Verbier, Heidelberg, Gstaad, Aldeburgh, Leeds Lieder and Toronto Summer Music Festivals, collaborating with Malcolm Martineau, Wolfram Rieger, Andras Schiff, Graham Johnson, Joseph Middleton, Kunal Lahiry amongst others.
