Ema Nikolovska, mezzo-soprano, was born in Skopje, raised in Toronto, and lives in Berlin.
She is a recipient of the prestigious Borletti-Buitoni Trust Award, was a BBC New Generation Artist, a YCAT Artist, Wigmore Hall Artist in Residence, and Elbphilharmonie ‘Fast Lane’ Artist, and winner of the International Vocal Competition ‘s-Hertogenbosch.
She trained as a violinist at The Glenn Gould School of The Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto, and as a singer at The Guildhall School of Music and Drama as well as the Internationale Opernstudio of the Staatsoper Unter den Linden in Berlin.
Ema’s creative practice embraces standard and obscure repertoire from all centuries, in opera and concert, with the philosophy that all centuries of writing exist within one another and are interdependent. For example, one week she may be singing Olga Neuwirth, Kaija Saariaho or Pierre Boulez, another Mozart, Schubert or Strauss, another Rameau or Élisabeth Jacquet de la Guerre, and yet another, working on a piece that was written a day ago. Additionally, Ema’s chamber music work (performance, arrangement, commissioning, research, curation) informs her opera practice – both forms are integral to her life as a vocalist.
With Martha Argerich and Sir András Schiff: song art at the highest level
Operatic highlights of past seasons include her role debut Nicklausse/La Muse in Offenbach’s Les Contes d’Hoffmann (Staatsoper Berlin), role and house debut Cherubino in Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro (Oper Zürich) and role and house debut Orlando in Olga Neuwirth’s Orlando (Komische Oper Berlin).
Ema also debuted Octavian in Der Rosenkavalier (Staatsoper Berlin), the lead role of The Woman in George Benjamin’s Picture A Day Like This (London Royal Ballet and Opera, and Opéra National du Rhin), and Aurore in Élisabeth Jacquet de la Guerre’s Céphale et Procris in concert.
Highlights of the 2026/27 season include an Asia tour with the Gewandhausorchester and the Thomanerchor, with performances of Bach’s St Matthew Passion, marking the 300th anniversary of Bach’s masterpiece.
Furthermore, Ema can be heard in recitals at the Elbphilharmonie, Philharmonie Essen and Pierre Boulez Saal, among others, with Sir András Schiff, Hikaru Kanki and Sean Shibe.
Johanna Herbst Artist Management has taken over Ema Nikolovska’s concert representation in German-speaking countries, please direct all other inquiries to Askonas Holt.
