Representation: World
German soprano Nikola Hillebrand continues to receive critical acclaim for her radiant voice and elegant timbre, her lightness of touch and polished technique as well as her authentic, charming stage presence and highly nuanced interpretations.
While still in the early stages of her career, the young soprano has already appeared in leading opera and concert houses such as the Bavarian State Opera, Glyndebourne Festival and Vienna’s Musikverein. After joining the ensemble of the Semperoper Dresden in autumn 2020, Nikola Hillebrand appears in the current and upcoming season as Pamina (Die Zauberflöte), Susanna (Le Nozze di Figaro), Musetta (La Bohème), Zdenka (Arabella), Sophie (Rosenkavalier), Ännchen (Der Freischütz), Gretel (Hänsel und Gretel) and Adele (Die Fledermaus). The latter role she also performed alongside Jonas Kaufmann as Eisenstein at the Semperoper's New Year's Eve concert in 2018. Other highlights from last season include Zdenka in Richard Strauss' Arabella at the Theater Bonn and concert performances of Johann Strauss’ Fledermaus with the Orchestre national de Lyon. In the role of Zdenka she also celebrated an outstanding debut at the Opernhaus Zürich. In December 2022 Nikola Hillebrand was highly acclaimed for her debuts as Pamina and Adele at the Staatsoper Hamburg. In January 2024 she will go on to make her debut as Cunigonde in Bernstein’s Candide at the Theater an der Wien.
To date, Nikola Hillebrand has worked with conductors such as Adam Fischer, Fabien Gabel, Stephan Gottfried, Manfred Honeck, René Jacobs, Václav Luks, Andis Nelsons, Andrés Orozco-Estrada, Raphaël Pichon, Markus Poschner, Jérémie Rohrer, Alexander Soddy, Robin Ticchiati and Franz Welser-Möst. Concert tours have taken the young soprano to Vienna’s Musikverein, the Wiener Konzerthaus, the Laeizshalle in Hamburg, the Cologne Philharmonie, the Mozartwoche in Salzburg, the Musikfest in Bremen, and overseas to South Korea, Egypt and Oman.
Further highlights have included performances of Brahms’ Requiem together with Raphaël Pichon and Ensemble Pygmalion at the Wiener Konzerthaus and the Philharmonie Essen, excerpts from Humperdinck's Hansel and Gretel with the Tonkünstler Orchester Niederösterreich in Grafenegg, as well as sacred works by Mozart with the Staatskapelle Dresden conducted by Manfred Honeck in the Semperoper Dresden. A tour of arias by Mozart and Mendelssohn took Nikola Hillebrand to Germany and Switzerland with the Basler Kammerochester. Additional notable performances have included Myslivecek's Abramo ed Isacco with the Collegium 1704 under Václav Luks at the Salzburg Festival, Mahler's IV Symphony with the Basel Symphony Orchestra conducted by Markus Poschner, Strauss Lieder with Fabien Gabel in Stavanger, Mendelssohn's Paulus conducted by Fabien Gabel in Grafenegg, Haydn’s Creation with the Orchestre national de France under the baton of Andrés Orozco-Estrada in Paris, Mahler’s 2nd and 8th Symphony with the Gewandhaus Orchestra and Andris Nelsons, Orff’s Carmina Burana with Kazuki Yamada in Monte Carlo and Beethoven’s C-Major Mass at the Vienna Konzerthaus.
In summer 2023, she will perform Haydn's Creation under the baton of Giovanni Antonini at the festivals in Herrenchiemsee, Gstaad and Klosters. At the Salzburg Festival she will be heard in Mozart's Exsultate Jubilate and his Coronation Mass under the baton of Roberto González-Monjas, and will take on the role of Elisa in a concert performance of Mozart's Re Pastore conducted by Adam Fischer. The opening concert of the Grafenegg Festival sees Nikola Hillebrand perform as a soloist in Mendelssohn's A Midsummer Night's Dream conducted by Yutaka Sado. In the 2023/24 season she will perform Haydn's Theresienmesse together with Concentus Musicus and Stefan Gottfried at the Vienna and Graz Musikverein, Lieder by Richard Strauss with the Tonkünstler Orchester Niederösterreich conducted by Jun Märkl in Vienna and St. Pölten, Brahms' Requiem with the Orchestre national de France under Cristian Măcelaru in Paris, and Bach cantatas with Raphaël Pichon and the Ensemble Pygmalion in Versailles and Paris.
Alongside her opera and concert activities Nikola Hillebrand is a passionate Lied singer and was awarded first prize at the international song competition "Das Lied 2019" in Heidelberg (with a jury chaired by Thomas Quasthoff). She most recently celebrated her recital debuts at the Heidelberger Frühling Festival, the Festival de Pâques in Aix-en-Provence, at Leeds-Lieder, the Schleswig-Holstein Festival, the Pierre-Boulez-Saal in Berlin, Wigmore Hall in London, the Essen Philharmonie, as well as at the International Hugo-Wolf Academy in Stuttgart. In the upcoming season, Nikola Hillebrand be performing Lieder at the Schubertiade in Schwarzenberg, at the Brucknerhaus in Linz, and together with Patricia Nolz in a duo recital at the Vienna Konzerthaus.
After finishing her studies in Munich, Nikola was engaged by the Nationaltheater Mannheim. As a member of the ensemble, she appeared in roles such as Sophie (Der Rosenkavalier), Despina (Così fan tutte), Gilda (Rigoletto), Norina (Don Pasquale) and Queen of the Night (Die Zauberflöte). There, she also celebrated notable success with her interpretation of the title role in Monteverdi's L'Incoronazione di Poppea.
2023 | 2024
www.nikolahillebrand.com
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Carl Maria von Weber: Der Freischütz
Sebastian Wartig, Ottokar
Tilmann Rönnebeck, Kuno
Jacquelyn Wagner, Agathe
Nikola Hillebrand, Ännchen
Georg Zeppenfeld, Kaspar
Tomislav Mužek, Max
Aleksei Kulagin, Der Eremit
Ilya Silchuk, Kilian
Sächsischer Staatsopernchor Dresden
Sächsische Staatskapelle Dresden
Antonello Manacorda, conductor
Axel Köhler, staging
Carl Maria von Weber: Der Freischütz
Sebastian Wartig, Ottokar
Tilmann Rönnebeck, Kuno
Jacquelyn Wagner, Agathe
Nikola Hillebrand, Ännchen
Georg Zeppenfeld, Kaspar
Tomislav Mužek, Max
Aleksei Kulagin, Der Eremit
Ilya Silchuk, Kilian
Sächsischer Staatsopernchor Dresden
Sächsische Staatskapelle Dresden
Antonello Manacorda, conductor
Axel Köhler, staging
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Le Nozze di Figaro KV 492
Christoph Pohl, Il Conte d'Almaviva
Elena Gorshunova, La Contessa d'Almaviva
Nikola Hillebrand, Susanna
Michael Nagl, Figaro
Cecilia Molinari, Cherubino
Michal Doron, Marcellina
Georg Zeppenfeld, Bartolo
Simeon Esper, Don Basilio
Gerald Hupach, Don Curzio
Gaetano d’Espinosa, conductor
Johannes Erath, staging
Katrin Connan, stage design
Jonathan Becker, choir
Francis Hüsers, dramaturgy
Sächsischer Staatsopernchor Dresden
Sächsische Staatskapelle Dresden
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Symphony E flat major, KV 543
Joseph Haydn: Mass in B-major, Hob. XXII:12, "Theresienmesse"
Nikola Hillebrand, soprano
Lucija Varsic, alto
Daniel Johannsen, tenor
Christoph Filler, bassbaritone
Stefan Gottfried, conductor
Concentus Musicus Wien
Chorus Viennensis
Vienna Boy's Choir
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Symphony E flat major, KV 543
Joseph Haydn: Mass in B-major, Hob. XXII:12, "Theresienmesse"
Nikola Hillebrand, soprano
Lucija Varsic, alto
Daniel Johannsen, tenor
Christoph Filler, bassbaritone
Stefan Gottfried, conductor
Concentus Musicus Wien
Chorus Viennensis
Vienna Boy's Choir
Representation: World