Nicole Cabell
Nicole Cabell, the 2005 Winner of the BBC Singer of the World Competition in Cardiff and Decca recording artist, is one of the most sought-after lyric sopranos of today. Her solo debut album, “Soprano” was named “Editor’s Choice” by Gramophone and has received an incredible amount of critical acclaim and several prestigious awards: the 2007 Georg Solti Orphée d’Or from the French Académie du Disque Lyrique and an Echo Klassik Award in Germany.
Ms. Cabell’s 2016–2017 season features her debut as Bess in Porgy in Bess with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, as well as performances of Mimì in La bohème with the Minnesota Opera and the Cincinnati Opera and of the Countess in Le nozze di Figaro with Angers Nantes Opera in France. In concert, she will sing Shéhérazade with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra and the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra.
The 2015–2016 season included the title role of Alcina at the Grand Théâtre de Genève, Hanna in The Merry Widow with Lyric Opera of Chicago, Violetta in La traviata at the Royal Opera House – Covent Garden, Juliette in Roméo et Juliette with Atlanta Opera, Mimì at Michigan Opera Theatre, and Rosalinde in Die Fledermaus with Cincinnati Opera. She also sang Hanna Glawari in The Merry Widow with Lyric Opera of Chicago Opera. On the concert stage, Ms. Cabell performed Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 in Hiroshima and Nagasaki and a solo recital in Baltimore.
Nicole Cabell’s 2014–2015 season included semi-staged concerts of Don Giovanni with Edo de Waart and the Milwaukee Symphony, her Opéra National de Paris debut (and role debut) as Mimì and Adina in L’elisir d’amore with the Minnesota Opera as well as a return to Washington Concert Opera as Giulietta in I Capuleti ed i Montecchi. In concert, she was heard with the Boston Symphony Orchestra in Villa-Lobos’ Bachianas Brasileiras No. 5, with the Orchestre National de Lille in Poulenc’s Stabat mater, with the San Diego Symphony in Strauss’ Four Last Songs, with the London Symphony Orchestra in Debussy’s La damoiselle elue, in a Puccini and Strauss gala concert in Hong Kong, as Bess in an abridged version of Porgy and Bess at Ravinia with Bobby McFerrin, at the Oregon Bach Festival in Mahler’s Symphony No. 2, at Bard’s Music Festival in Villa-Lobos’ Forest of the Amazon, and at SUNY Potsdam in Brahms’ Ein deutsches Requiem.
In the previous season, Nicole Cabell made some exciting role debuts, first as Violetta with Michigan Opera Theatre (seen again later in the season at the San Francisco Opera), then as Medora in Il corsaro with Washington Concert Opera. She reprised the role of her triumphant San Francisco Opera debut as Giulietta in I Capuleti e i Montecchi with the Lyric Opera of Kansas City. In concert, Ms. Cabell made her Paris debut in Poulenc’s Stabat mater, appeared several times in Spain, first with the Orquesta de Galicia in a Barber and Mahler program, then on tour with the RPO and Charles Dutoit in Poulenc’s Gloria. In London, she was heard with the RPO in the same Poulenc piece as well as with the BBC Orchestra, first in Barber’s Knoxville, Summer of 1915 with Keith Lockhart and later in Elgar’s The Apostles with Sir Andrew Davis. Further concert appearances included Duke Ellington’s Sacred Music at Carnegie Hall, Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with the Boston Symphony and Charles Dutoit at Tanglewood, and finally in a Barber and Brahms program in Nashville with GianCarlo Guerrero. Nicole Cabell also appeared in recital in Chicago.
The 2012–2013 season started with Ms. Cabell’s much-anticipated role and company debuts as Giulietta in I Capuleti e i Montecchi at the San Francisco Opera. Later, she returned to another favorite role, Adina, which she sang for her debut at the Teatro del Liceo in Barcelona and for her return to the New National Theatre in Tokyo. Further opera engagements included Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni with the Cincinnati Opera. In concert, Miss Cabell sang the Mozart Requiem at Carnegie Hall, Bach’s B Minor Mass in Chicago and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with the Cleveland Orchestra on tour in Miami.
Ms. Cabell’s previous season showcased her command of Mozart’s music, as she sang the Countess in Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro in Montreal, Pamina in Die Zauberflöte at the Lyric Opera of Chicago and Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni in Tokyo. She was also heard in some of her favorite roles in the French repertoire, such as Juliette in Roméo et Juliette with the Palm Beach Opera and Leïla in Les pêcheurs de perles at the Santa Fe Opera. In concert, she appeared in New York, London, Chicago, Cincinnati, Toronto, Atlanta, San Diego, and Saint Petersburg.
Prior to that, Nicole Cabell returned to the Metropolitan Opera and the Lyric Opera of Chicago for Micaëla in Carmen, to the Royal Opera House – Covent Garden for Leïla in Les pêcheurs de perles, and made an exciting role debut as Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni with the Oper Köln and the Deutsche Oper, Berlin. She also returned to the Cincinnati Opera as Pamina. In concert, she appeared with the Edinburgh Festival as the Mater Gloriosa in Mahler’s Symphony No. 8, followed by gala opening concerts in Kuala Lumpur with the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra and their music director, Claus Peter Flor. Nicole Cabell sang solo recitals in Toronto and Louisville, Kentucky.
Other engagements include Musetta in La bohème at the Metropolitan Opera and at the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires, as well as Adina and the Countess at the Lyric Opera of Chicago. She also made debuts with the New Orleans Opera as Juliette and with the Atlanta Opera as Pamina. In concert, she debuted with three major orchestras: the New York Philharmonic in Opera Aria Concerts in New York and in Vail with Bramwell Tovey, the Boston Symphony in Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with Kurt Masur, and the Cleveland Orchestra with its music director, Franz Welser-Möst, in Brahms’ Ein deutsches Requiem. Nicole Cabell returned to the Chicago Symphony Orchestra for performances of Mahler’s Symphony No. 4 with Markus Stenz, sang Mahler’s Symphony No. 2, first with the Singapore Symphony and John Nelson, then with the Accademia di Santa Cecilia and Antonio Pappano in Rome. In recital, she was heard in Urbana, Illinois and Savannah, Georgia.
Nicole Cabell’s 2008–2009 season brought her to the Metropolitan Opera for her house debut in two of her most acclaimed roles, Pamina and Adina. With her home company, the Lyric Opera of Chicago, she sang Leïla and an opera concert at Millennium Park conducted by the company’s music director, Sir Andrew Davis. Other opera engagements included two role debuts as the Countess with the Cincinnati Opera and Micaëla with the Deutsche Oper Berlin. In concert, Nicole Cabell was heard in Copenhagen, Prague, Munich, Frankfurt, Dortmund, Ottawa, Indianapolis, and Raleigh. Miss Cabell appeared twice in recital at Carnegie Hall, first for Marilyn Horne’s 75th birthday gala concert, then as part of Jessye Norman’s Honor Festival, apart from solo dates in Toronto, Berkeley, and Cincinnati. A more unusual event in the soprano’s season was a series of cabaret concerts at the Orange County Performing Arts Center.
Miss Cabell’s 2007–2008 season began and ended with performances of the role of Musetta with the Lyric Opera of Chicago, the Royal Opera House – Covent Garden, and the Washington Opera. Other notable opera appearances included Pamina with Opera Pacific and a concert of Donizetti’s Don Pasquale with the Bayerischer Rundfunk. Nicole Cabell was heard in concert in London, Munich, Lyon, Oslo, and Pittsburgh as well as in Christmas concerts with the New York Pops at Carnegie Hall. She appeared in recital in Atlanta’s Spivey Hall, Omaha, Saint Louis, and Tryon.
Previous engagements included many exciting debuts, most notably with the Royal Opera House – Covent Garden as Eudoxie in concert performances of La Juïve, the Orchestra of St. Luke’s at Carnegie Hall in Poulenc’s Gloria, Santa Fe Opera as Musetta, Opéra de Montpellier as Adina, Deutsche Oper Berlin as Juliette, Ilia in Idomeneo, and Pamina in Die Zauberflöte, as well as the release of her first solo compact disc for Decca, “Nicole Cabell, Soprano”. Another important recording project was the title role of Donizetti’s Imelda de’ Lambertazzi for Opera Rara, which she also performed in concert in London. Notable concert appearances included Carmina burana and Honey and Rue with the Oslo Philharmonic and Andre Previn, an all-Bernstein evening at Harvard with Judith Clurman, Gorecki’s Symphony No. 3 with the Minnesota Orchestra and Osmo Vänskä and a return to the Indianapolis Symphony for a concert of opera arias with Mario Venzago. Miss Cabell also appeared in recital in London, Tokyo, Hammond, LA, and for the opening of the new hall at Mount Vernon, Virginia.
Prior to that, Nicole Cabell made a number of debuts, especially in opera with the Palm Beach and Madison Operas for Pamina in Die Zauberflöte, with Michigan Opera Theater as Musetta in La Bohème and, last but not least, with the Spoleto Festival USA for Juliette in Gounod’s Roméo et Juliette. She appeared in recital in New York City as part of Marilyn Horne’s Birthday Gala at Carnegie’s Zankel Hall as well as in Chicago, Buffalo and Bradford, PA. On the concert stage Miss Cabell was heard in Louisville in both the Poulenc Gloria and Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony with Raymond Leppard in both cases, in Milwaukee in a program of Shakespeare-themed pieces with Nicholas McGegan, in crossover concerts with the Pasadena Pops and in Montreal Opera’s annual gala. She also sang in a Classical Christmas program with the Indianapolis Symphony. Later in the season, Nicole Cabell returned to Rome for concerts of Britten’s Les Illuminations and Mahler’s 4th Symphony with James Conlon and the Accademia di Santa Cecilia. In the summer, Miss Cabell made her London concert debut at the Proms in Britten’s Les Illuminations with the BBC Symphony Orchestra and Sir Andrew Davis; she returned to the Ravinia Festival for a crossover concert with James Conlon, to the Bard Music Festival for a recital of Franz Liszt Lieder and a concert of music by Halévy and to the Pasadena Pops for evenings of music from around the Mediterranean. She also made her St Louis debut with more crossover concerts with the Compton Heights Band.
While a member of the Lyric Opera of Chicago’s Lyric Opera Center for American Artists (now known as Ryan Opera Center), Nicole Cabell had the opportunity to sing the title role in Janacek’s The Cunning Little Vixen in student matinees as well as to cover the roles of Marzelline in Fidelio and Rita Billingsly in the world premiere of William Bolcom’s A Wedding. Miss Cabell made her extremely successful Orchestra Hall debut with the Chicago Symphony in concerts of Tippett’s A Child of Our Time with Sir Andrew Davis conducting. She also made her European debut in concerts of Brahms’ Ein deutsches Requiem with the Accademia di Santa Cecilia in Rome with Antonio Pappano and Thomas Hampson; she appeared with the Florida Orchestra as the soprano soloist in Mahler’s Symphony No. 4 with the Florida Orchestra and Stefan Sanderling and in Villa-Lobos’ Bachianas Brasileiras No. 5 with the Baltimore Symphony. Nicole Cabell was heard in recital in Little Rock, Arkansas.
The preceding year she sang Barbarina and covered Susanna in Le nozze di Figaro and appeared as Isabel in The Pirates of Penzance at the Lyric Opera, having sung with the same company the role of Crobyle in Thaïs in the fall of 2002. In concert, she made her debut with the Oregon Symphony as the soprano soloist in Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 with Carlos Kalmar and repeated Barbarina with the Chicago Symphony and Daniel Barenboim at the Ravinia Festival. In the summer, Miss Cabell was also heard live on A Prairie Home Companion in a celebration of Ravinia’s 50th season and sang the role of Lauretta in Gianni Schicchi with the Grant Park Festival.
In concert, Nicole Cabell was a featured soloist in Ravinia’s All Gershwin Concert with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra under the baton of David Alan Miller, and participated in Ravinia’s opening day concert, accompanied by Welz Kauffman. Miss Cabell has appeared as a soloist in Chicago’s Grant Park Festival and Lyric Opera Center for American Artists Rising Stars in Concert.
Awards include first place in both the Palm Beach Opera Vocal Competition and the Women’s Board of Chicago Vocal Competition. Nicole Cabell was a semi-finalist in the 2005 Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions and earned first place in the American Opera Society competition in Chicago. She is the 2002 winner of the Union League’s Rose M. Grundman Scholarship, and the 2002 Farwell Award with the Woman’s Board of Chicago. Nicole Cabell holds a bachelor’s degree in vocal performance from the Eastman School of Music.
