Nicole Smeulders
Nicole has been associated with the Opera Australia chorus since 2001 and is delighted to now be working full time with the ensemble. Highlights have included five Handa operas and the recent productions of Carmen on Cockatoo Island and Lohengrin in Melbourne, (where she sang one of the Female Page roles). As a chorister with Cantillation, she has performed on numerous CDs and films, (including the Lego and Peter Rabbit movies) and has been engaged in concert performances with the SSO and the ACO. As part of Pinchgut Opera chorus, she performed in the recent touring concerts of Women of the Pieta and has also sung in Handel’s Athalia and Theodora, Gluck’s Iphigenie en Tauride, Rameau’s Castor and Pollux and Haydn’s L’anima del filosofo.
Nicole has enjoyed an extensive career as a soloist and has twice been recipient of the Lauris Elms’ Contralto Award. Highlights of her career include Elijah: Willoughby Symphony Choir, Haydn Requiem: Australian Haydn Ensemble, El Amor Brujo: Penrith Symphony Orchestra, Alexander Nevsky: Kuringgai Philahrmonic, Frederick in Thomas’ Mignon: Rockdale Opera, CPE Bach Magnificat: Sydney University Graduates’ Choir, A Child of Our Time: Musicum Collegium and Messiah for the Combined Church Choirs at the Sydney Town Hall.
Nicole has worked and toured with the Song Company, the ACO Voices, and Hallelujah Junction. Broadcast highlights include ABCFM concert recordings of Canberra’s Calling for You and Nigel Butterley’s 70th Birthday with the Song Company and Scarlatti’s Christmas Oratorio and Caldara’s Vaticini di Pace with the Sydney Consort.