Hailed for his “polished vocal technique” and “heart-tugging emotional communication” (San Diego Story), Nicholas Newton garners due attention as an up-and-coming bass-baritone in the classical music world. Mr. Newton's 2024-2025 season features a debut at the Opéra national de Paris in Rameau’s Castor et Pollux in a new production directed by Peter Sellars under the baton of Teodor Currentzis, Le nozze di Figaro at Lyric Opera of Chicago directed by Barbara Gaines led by Erina Yashima, and a new production of Don Giovanni at Opera Philadelphia directed by Alison Moritz and conducted by Music Director Corrado Rovaris. Concert performances include a debut with Boston Baroque joining Music Director Martin Pearlman for Haydn’s The Creation, and Handel’s Messiah with the Kansas City Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Patrick Summers.
Last season’s diary included the Houston Grand Opera world premiere of Intelligence, a new American epic created by a powerhouse trio: composer Jake Heggie, librettist Gene Scheer, and director/choreographer Jawole Willa Jo Zollar, founder of Urban Bush Women; Rossini’s comic masterpiece La cenerentola at Lyric Opera of Chicago; John Adams’ El Niño at The Metropolitan Opera in a new production directed by Lileana Blain-Cruz led by Marin Alsop; and the world premiere of Gregory Spears' and Tracy K. Smith’s The Righteous, along with the role of Leporello in a fresh interpretation by Stephen Barlow of Don Giovanni at the Santa Fe Opera under the baton of Music Director Harry Bicket. Concert performances included Handel’s Messiah with the Ann Arbor Symphony and the Rhode Island Philharmonic as well as a three-city tour of Terence Blanchard’s Fire Shut Up in My Bones in a new suite of music from the composer’s historic opera, performed with the celebrated trumpeter, his E-Collective, and the GRAMMY® Award-winning Turtle Island. Highlights of past seasons include a European debut at the Salzburg Festival in Purcell’s The Indian Queen with Teodor Currentzis conducting Utopia choir and orchestra, the role of Peter in Richard Jones’ acclaimed production of Hänsel und Gretel at Lyric Opera of Chicago conducted by Sir Andrew Davis, Il barbiere di Siviglia at Cincinnati Opera and Santa Fe Opera, Handel’s Rodelinda at The Metropolitan Opera, Xerxes at Detroit Opera, Rigoletto at The Dallas Opera and Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, and both La bohème and Sweeney Todd at Wolf Trap Opera.
An avid concert performer and recitalist, Mr. Newton is an alumnus of Ravinia’s Steans Music Institute and has toured with renowned pianist Kevin Murphy, performing at the Tucson Desert Song Festival. He also has worked with the Cincinnati Song Initiative and performed in their virtual recital series, A World of Song, and appeared in Houston Grand Opera’s Giving Voice: Lawrence Brownlee & Friends concert. Other notable concert performances include Mozart’s Requiem, Haydn’s Lord Nelson Mass, Fauré’s Requiem, Stephen Paulus’ To Be Certain of the Dawn, Gershwin’s Catfish Row with San Diego Winds, Duruflé’s Requiem with San Diego Master Chorale, and the world premiere of Michael Capp’s Christmas Revels with Las Colinas Symphony.
