Praised for her warm timbre and appealing stage-presence, Dutch mezzo-soprano Marjolein Niels is a frequent guest with leading orchestras and opera companies in the Netherlands. One of the highlights from this past season included dance opera The Sopranos, in collaboration with the renowned dance company ICKamsterdam and Opera Zuid.  This co-production, set to music by Verdi and choreography by Emio Greco and Pieter C. Scholten, was nominated by the public as dance performance of 2014. The tour of A train rode to Sobibor (Er reed een trein naar Sobibor) was a musical and emotional highlight of the season.  On the occasion of Remembrance Day, this concert was broadcast nationwide on Dutch television.

On the operatic stage Marjolein Niels sung the role of Wellgunde en Siegrune in Antony McDonald’s highly acclaimed production of Wagner’s Ring cycle conducted by Ed Spanjaard. Marjolein Niels successfully performed this role with the Nationale Reisopera, where she also sung the roles of Néris in Medea and Secondy Lady in Die Zauberflöte. Other roles have included Flora in La traviata (directed by Frank van Laecke / Opera Zuid),  Néris in Médée (Opera2Day), Maman in L’enfant et les sortilèges (NTR ZaterdagMatinee of the Concertgebouw), Dido in Dido and Aeneas, First Secretary in Nixon in China, Dorabella in Così fan tutte (Het Gelders Orkest) and Zerlina in Don Giovanni (Concertgebouw Amsterdam in direction of Laurence Dale).

As a soloist Marjolein Niels performed with orchestras including Concerto Copenhagen, Orkest van het Oosten, Noord Nederlands Orkest, Holland Symfonia (with the Dutch National Opera in Writing to Vermeer), Vlaams Radio Orkest, Orchestra of the Eighteenth Century, Het Gelders Orkest, Netherlands Chamber Orchestra, Radio Philharmonisch Orkest, Limburgs Symfonie Orkest and the newly formed Philharmonie ZuidNederland. She worked with conductors such as Hans Graf, Roberto Rizzi Brignoli, Lars Ulrik Mortensen, Reinbert de Leeuw, Frans Bruggen and Bruno Weil.

Marjolein Niels is also a passionate lieder singer. She was invited to sing solo recitals in various theatres in Europe including Le Grand Théatre de Tours, Concertgebouw Amsterdam, (“Jonge Nederlanders” and “Tracks” series), Internationales Stimmen Festival Holzhausen and the vocal-series “Royale Vocale” in The Hague.

Marjolein Niels studied at the Conservatory of Amsterdam with Maarten Koningsberger and Margreet Honig. She finished her masters at the opera academy of Amsterdam and The Hague, where she sang various roles such as Contessa in Le nozze di Figaro and Pamina in Die Zauberflöte. During 2003/2004 she was an ensemble member of the Dutch Opera Studio. In this period she made her debut at the Nationale Reisopera, where she remains a regular guest. She has followed masterclasses with Dawn Upshaw, Graham Clark, Rudolf Janssen, Roger Vignoles and Konrad Richter.


VERSION: May 2015

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