| Biography | Hyacinth Nicholls was born in Trinidad and was awarded a scholarship from the Trinidad and Tobago Oil Company to study at the Guildhall School of Music with Noelle Barker. After obtaining her AGSM she completed the opera course at Guildhall. While at college, she won the Ricordi Opera Prize, the Susan Longfield award and the Principal's Prize.
She completed her studies at the National Opera Studio sponsored by the Friends of Covent Garden and the Arts Council. In 1985 she won the Maggie Teyte Memorial Prize, after which she made a successful début recital at the Wigmore Hall, and where she has subsequently performed in the Song Makers' Almanac series.
Her professional opera début was at Glyndebourne Festival Opera where her roles have included Louis XV Armchair/Bat L'enfant et les sortileges, Natasha The Electrification of the Soviet Union, Flora La Traviata and Regan New Year.
Operatic roles include; Carmen for several opera companies including English National Opera's Baylis Programme, the Royal Opera House's Education Programme; Suzuki Madama Butterfly; the title role in Gluck's Orfeo; Dalila Samson and Dalila; Third Lady The Magic Flute; Amneris Aida for Opera Northern Ireland and Raymond Gubbays production at the Royal Albert Hall; Serena Porgy and Bess in the Atlantic Pavilion, Lisbon; the Strawberry Woman Porgy and Bess Suite with the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, the Orchestre National de Lyon and just recently with the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Wayne Marshall; Dido Dido & Aeneas in Syria (the first ever production there, presented by the British Council in conjunction with the Syrian Ministry of Culture).
In the Spring of 2000 she created the role of Mary Mbewa in the world Première of The Music Programme by Roxanna Panufnik with the Polish National Opera in Warsaw and at Londons Covent Garden Festival. She returned to Warsaw in 2000-2001 for the revival of The Music Programme and earlier this year sang Carmen in Raymond Gubbays production at the Royal Albert Hall.
Hyacinth also makes regular appearances in concert and oratorio. Recent highlights include the Angel The Dream of Gerontius in St Albans Cathedral, Messiah in Durham Cathedral, Vivaldi Gloria in Southwell Minster and Rossini Petite Messe Solennelle for Barnet Choral Society.. |