Making her mark as an "especially impressive" (
New York Times) soprano, Australian/American Nola Richardson is a rapidly rising star increasingly recognized for her performances which combine a voice of "astonishing balance and accuracy,” “crystalline diction,” and “natural-sounding ease” (
Washington Post) with "spellbinding acting-singing... substantial powers of melisma, melodic agility, and timbre modulation." (blogcritic.org)
Highly acclaimed in her concert appearances, Nola’s repertoire ranges from medieval to contemporary works, including several world premieres. In the 2025/26 season she makes her debut with LA Opera and Beth Morrison Projects creating the title role in the new opera
Hildegard by Sarah Kirkland Snider. She will perform Rameau's
La Guirlande and Handel's
Dixit Dominus with Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, Handel's
Messiah with the Tucson and Kansas City Symphonies, and Mozart's
Exsultate Jubilate with Helena Symphony. Other appearances include a solo concert of French Baroque cantatas with Ars Lyrica Houston, Bach's
Jauchzet Gott in allen Landen with American Classical Orchestra, Vivaldi's
In furore iustissimae irae with Upper Valley Baroque,
St. Matthew Passion with Musica Angelia, and engagements with the Bach Choir of Bethlehem, the Bach Society of St. Louis, Clarion, and Seraphic Fire.
After winning first prize in all three major American competitions focused on the music of J.S. Bach (Bethlehem Bach, 2016; Audrey Rooney Bach, 2018; Grand Rapids Symphony Linn Maxwell Keller Award, 2019), Nola has been catapulted to the forefront of Baroque ensembles and orchestras around the country. Selected performances include Bach's
Magnificat at the Cincinnati May Festival; the
B-minor Mass with American Classical Orchestra at the Lincoln Center; the
St. Matthew Passion with the Portland Symphony and Musica Angelica; the
St. John Passion with Cantata Collective; and the
Christmas Oratorio with Washington Bach Consort. In 2024 she debuted as a soloist at the Leipzig Bach Festival and took park in a tour of Germany and Austria with the Bach Choir of Bethlehem. Nola has performed the virtuosic BWV 51:
Jauchzet Gott in allen Landen with the Seattle, Atlanta and Baltimore Symphonies and with the Baroque Chamber Orchestra of Colorado, Blue Hill Bach, Colorado Bach Ensemble, and Baltimore Choral Arts Society. She has performed Bach cantatas all over the country with ensembles such as the American Bach Soloists, American Classical Orchestra, the Aspen Music Festival, Ars Lyrica Houston, the Holy Trinity Bach Vespers Series, Bach at One with Trinity Wall Street, Seraphic Fire, the Baldwin Wallace Bach Festival, and the Madison Bach Musicians. Her debut in Bach’s
Coffee Cantata with Philharmonia Baroque in 2019 was noted for her “graceful ebullience” (
San Francisco Chronicle).
Nola's operatic appearances such as her debut at the Kennedy Center with Opera Lafayette (Fraarte in Handel’s
Radamisto)have drawn praise for her “particularly appealing freshness and directness” (
Washington Post). As Oriana in Handel's
Amadigi di Gaula with Ars Lyrica Houston, she was acclaimed as “the most convincing actor of the night, her every expression true to character… [her voice] resolute and triumphant, with depth and clarity, powerful yet supple” (
Arts and Culture Texas). She gave a “standout” performance (
Opera News) as the First Lady in
The Magic Flute with the Clarion Music Society and made her debut with the Boston Early Music Festival in the summer of 2023 performing several roles in Desmarest’s
Circé and as Oreste Nunzia in Francesca Caccini’s
Alcina. Last season featured role debuts as Gretel in
Hansel and Gretel with Helena Symphony, and Cleopatra in Hasse's
Marc' Antonio e Cleopatra with Baroque Chamber Orchestra of Colorado. Her repertoire includes several Mozart heroines in addition to early operatic works such as Eurydice/Proserpina in Monteverdi's
Orfeo and Apolo in a rare performance of the Baroque zarzuela
Apolo e Dafne by Sebastián Durón.
With "a voice for which Handel might have designed the music" (
Parterre Box), Nola is also a frequent interpreter of Handel and other baroque composers. She has made debuts in
Messiah with the Pittsburgh, Seattle, Kansas City, Helena, Pacific, and Colorado Symphonies, the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, and with Musica Sacra and the Oratorio Society of New York. The
Seattle Times described her as “agile and crystalline-voiced…a stand-out” and as Dalila in Handel's
Samson at Carnegie Hall with Oratorio Society of New York, she was declared "the vocal star of the first half... who infuses an effervescent soprano with seductive character work" (blogcritic.org). Recent seasons have seen her perform title roles in Handel oratorios
Acis and Galatea with American Bach Soloists, and
Theodora with Ars Lyrica Houston, Maria Magdalena in
La Resurrezione with American Bach Soloists, and in national tours of the cantatas
Apollo e Dafne and
Aminta e Fillide with the Twelfth Night Ensemble.
Nola's other concert appearances include Mozart's
Exsultate Jubilate with Grand Rapids Symphony and Voices of Music, Mozart's
Requiem with the Jacksonville Symphony, and Baltimore Choral Arts, a tour of Arvo Pärt's
Passio to Russia, Estonia, and Latvia with the Yale Schola Cantorum, a Sondheim review with the Boston Pops, Haydn’s
Creation with the Akron Symphony and the Master Chorale of South Florida, Pergolesi's
Stabat Mater with the Bach Choir of Bethlehem and the Boise Baroque Orchestra, and
Carmina Burana with the Master Chorale of South Florida. Her performances in a program of French Baroque music with the American Bach Soloists drew praise for her “lusciously polished…exemplary impassioned singing” (
San Francisco Classical Voice).
Nola's recent recording of Bach's
St. John Passion with the Cantata Collective and conductor Nicholas McGegan was praised for her "elegant phrasing, radiant tone, and splendid ease in coloratura" (
Early Music America). She can be heard on Cantata Collective's recordings of Bach's
Magnificat and
Easter Oratorio; Mozart's
Requiem with the Baltimore Choral Arts; the Boston Early Music Festival's album of Desmarest's
Circé and in digital video releases with Voices of Music, Seraphic Fire, Sonnambula, Musica Angelica, and Colorado Bach Ensemble.
An Australian by birth, Nola has spent most of her life in the United States. She holds a BM from Illinois Wesleyan University and dual MM degrees in Vocal Performance and Early Music from the Peabody Conservatory. She was a young artist with the Boston Early Music Festival, a vocal fellow at Tanglewood, a Marc and Eva Stern Fellow at Songfest, and a Carmel Bach Festival Virginia Best Adams Fellow. Nola attended the Institute of Sacred Music Program and in May of 2020 she was the first and only female singer to receive the prestigious DMA degree in Early Music Voice from Yale.
Learn more at
NolaRichardson.com.
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