Nicole Car

Nicole Car emerged as an opera singer through competition victories, launching performances at the world's leading opera houses from the Metropolitan Opera to Paris Opéra. Recognized for her voice and unique music style, she has established herself across Mozart comedies, Romantic dramas, and Verdian heroines, becoming a regular presence at European opera institutions. Her first solo recording of opera arias, The Kiss, was released in 2016, followed by a live concert recording, Heroines, with the Australian Chamber Orchestra and conductor Richard Tognetti, in 2018. Car was born in 1985 in Australia. She studied at Strathmore Secondary School, where she actively took part in school musical productions. During her final year, she performed at the Victorian Schools' Spectacular, presenting jazz pieces inspired by the 1930s and '40s. At 17, while finishing high school in Melbourne, she experienced opera for the first time through a performance of Tosca, an event that sparked a deeper interest in the art form. She later pursued formal training by enrolling in a Bachelor of Music program at the Victorian College of the Arts. In 2012, she won first prize at the Australia Opera Awards. The following year, in 2013, she achieved first prize at the Neue Stimmen Competition. In 2015, she received a nomination for Best Young Singer at the International Opera Awards. Car's early performances included the role of Micaëla in Bizet's Carmen for Handa Opera on Sydney Harbour in 2013 before making her American debut at Dallas Opera in 2014, singing the Countess in Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro. In 2015, she made her debut at London's Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, again as Micaëla. She returned to Covent Garden repeatedly over subsequent seasons. Her French career developed substantially. Beginning in 2017, she performed at Paris National Opera in Eugene Onegin as Tatyana and La bohème as Mimì. Following engagements extended her repertoire at Paris Opéra to include Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni (2019, 2022), Elisabetta in Don Carlo (2019), and Amelia in Simon Boccanegra (2023). She also performed Ellen Orford in Britten's Peter Grimes at La Scala, establishing her capabilities in contemporary operatic literature. Her engagement with major metropolitan opera houses expanded internationally. She performed at the Metropolitan Opera in Mozart, Puccini, and Britten; at the Bavarian State Opera in Tchaikovsky and Puccini; and at the Vienna State Opera and Deutsche Oper Berlin. In the 2020s, she appeared on several recordings of little-known repertoire on the Palazzetto Bru Zane label. In 2025, Car performed the role of Matréna in Clémence de Grandval's Mazeppa with the Munich Radio Orchestra and Bavarian Radio Choir under conductor Mihhail Gerts, the recording of which was released the following year. Throughout the 2024-2025 season, she made significant role debuts as Antonia in Offenbach's Les Contes d'Hoffmann at the Vienna State Opera and Amelia in Verdi's Un ballo in maschera at the Bavarian State Opera, alongside her 2025 role debut as the title heroine in Dvořák's Rusalka at Opera Australia. ~ Prince Iwundu, Rovi