British lyric soprano Nadine Benjamin is a charismatic and versatile artist who is in increasing demand on both the operatic stage and the concert platform. She is also developing great renown as an exponent of song, in particular Verdi, Strauss, Berg and contemporary American song. From 2018 to 2020, Nadine was an English National Opera Harewood Artist and made her debut with the Company as Clara (Porgy and Bess), followed by Musetta (La bohème) and Laura (Luisa Miller). Nadine made her Royal Opera House debut in October 2020 as a soprano soloist in New Dark Age, with works by Anna Meredith, Missy Mazzoli and Anna Thorvaldsdottir, and directed by Katie Mitchell.
Nadine made her debut at the BBC Proms in 2019 and has appeared at the Women’s Festival in Greece and given private recitals at the Palazzo Doria Pamphilj in Rome. She has performed with the Chineke! Orchestra and gives free annual lunchtime recitals at St Paul’s Church, Covent Garden. Nadine created the principal role of Imoinda in the UK premiere of The Crossing, an opera by the Cuban-American composer Odaline de la Martinez, at the London Festival of American Music. Also for the Festival, Nadine has performed song cycles by Bolcom, Child and Barber, the European premiere of John Harbison’s Milosz Songs, and a programme of works by female American composers, accompanied by Susanna Stranders.
Nadine recorded the role of Mrs. Waters in Dame Ethel Smyth’s opera The Boatswain’s Mate for Retrospect Opera, also under the baton of de la Martinez, released in 2016 to critical acclaim and broadcast on BBC Radio 3. In collaboration with pianist Nicole Panizza, Nadine recorded ‘Emergence’, a selection of songs set to the poems of Emily Dickinson, which was released in 2019 and nominated in the vocal category at that year’s International Classical Music Awards.
Nadine is a mentor, certified High Performance Coach and Mind Coach, and founded her opera and mentorship programme ‘Everybody Can!’ in 2015 to provide a platform to encourage and support others in recognising and achieving their own visions. She has both produced and sung principal roles in Otello and Tosca for Everybody Can! Opera. An Ambassador for London Music Masters, Nadine was “highly commended” at the 2016 Aviva ‘Women of the Future Awards’ and invited to both Buckingham Palace and 10 Downing Street in recognition of her work as a mentor and singer.