Nola Richardson
Making her mark as an “especially impressive” (The New York Times) soprano, Australian/American Nola Richardson has won First Prize in all three major American competitions focused on the music of J.S. Bach (Bethlehem Bach, 2016; Audrey Rooney Bach, 2018; Grand Rapids Symphony Linn Maxwell Keller Award, 2019). These honors have catapulted her to the forefront of Baroque ensembles and orchestras around the country, where she has been praised for her “astonishing balance and accuracy,” “crystalline diction,” and “natural-sounding ease” (Washington Post).
In concert, Nola’s repertoire ranges from medieval to contemporary works – including several world premieres — and she has been particularly noted for her interpretations of Bach, Handel, and Mozart. Recent seasons have featured her debuts with the Pittsburgh, Seattle, and Colorado Symphonies in performances of Handel’s Messiah in which she was described as “agile and crystalline-voiced…a stand-out” (Seattle Times). Her debut in Bach’s Coffee Cantata with Philharmonia Baroque was noted for her “graceful ebullience” (San Francisco Chronicle) and performances in Handel’s La Resurrezione and a program of French Baroque music with the American Bach Soloists drew praise for her “lusciously polished…exemplary impassioned singing” (San Francisco Classical Voice). She has appeared in concert at the Lincoln Center with the American Classical Orchestra, in a Sondheim review with the Boston Pops, and has performed works of Bach with the Baltimore and Grand Rapids Symphony among other noted Baroque ensembles and choral societies.
Her operatic roles include a “standout” performance (Opera News) as the First Lady in Die Zauberflöte with the Clarion Music Society, and her debut at the Kennedy Center with Opera Lafayette as Fraarte in Handel’s Radamisto drew praise for her “particularly appealing freshness and directness” (Washington Post). Most recently she has interpreted the role of Apolo in a rare performance of the Baroque Zarzuela Apolo e Dafne by Sebastián Durón and next season will feature a performance of Hildegard von Bingen’s Ordo Virtutum staged by Francesca Zambello with Seraphic Fire.
During the Covid-19 pandemic, Richardson took part in a wide variety of virtual projects including appearances with the Atlanta Symphony in a documentary, “In the Key of Bach” led by Robert Spano, solo concerts with Musica Angelica and the Colorado Bach Ensemble, and programs with the National Cathedral, the Bach Choir of Bethlehem, Seraphic Fire, and Voices of Ascension. Other appearances such as a debut at the Leipzig Bach Festival 2020 as a soloist with the Bethlehem Bach Society, debuts with the Boston Early Music Festival and Ars Lyrica Houston, and concerts with the American Bach Soloists, Trinity Wall Street and the Baltimore Choral Arts Society were unfortunately cancelled or postponed.
Nola is also a devoted chamber musician and has performed, toured, and recorded with Grammy® nominated ensembles Seraphic Fire, Clarion, Musica Sacra and Trinity Wall Street. She performed as the soloist for Arvo Pärt’s Passio on tour in Russia, Estonia, and Latvia with the Yale Schola Cantorum and at the Aspen Music Festival with Seraphic Fire. She is the first and only soprano to receive the prestigious DMA degree in Early Music Voice from Yale, where she attended the Institute of Sacred Music. Her upcoming season will include performances with the American Bach Soloists, the Kansas City and Grand Rapids Symphonies, Musica Angelica, Seraphic Fire, and debuts with Ars Lyrica Houston, and the Tuscon Baroque Music Festival.
Current & Upcoming Performances
Past Performances
March 13-17, 2019 Various Venues in South Florida
March 13-17, 2019 Various Venues in South Florida
March 13-17, 2019 Various Venues in South Florida
March 13-17, 2019 Various Venues in South Florida
March 13-17, 2019 Various Venues in South Florida
February 15-18. Various venues in CA
February 15-18. Various venues in CA
February 15-18. Various venues in CA
February 15-18. Various venues in CA
February 5 & 7
Coffee Cantata with Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, February 2020
“Soprano Nola Richardson sang with graceful ebullience as Lieschen, bass-baritone Cody Quattlebaum brought robustness and verve to the role of her father, and tenor James Reese served splendidly as the narrator.”
“Richardson had the best musical material to work with and made the most of it. Her bright, crisply articulated tone, shown to best advantage in a beguiling and satiny conversation with flutist Stephen Schultz, earned best-in-show honors.” — Joshua Kosman, San Francisco Chronicle
The Messiah with the Seattle Symphony, December, 2019
“The soprano aria “If God be for us,” for instance, is not always heard in Christmastime productions, but its inclusion here may have had something to do with the excellence of the soprano soloist, the agile and crystalline-voiced Nola Richardson. With her creative ornamentation, she was a standout among the four soloists, but all of them had highly distinctive voices and interpretations” — Melinda Bargreen, The Seattle Times
The Creation with Master Chorale of South Florida, May 2019
“As the angel Gabriel and later Eve, Nola Richardson was totally delightful, displaying nimble coloratura and a light voice of penetrating beauty. Confirming the strong impression she made in Seraphic Fire’s 2018 performance of Bach’s St. Matthew Passion, Richardson’s bright timbre and dulcet high notes were thrilling in “The marvelous work beholds” and she ignited sparks with the perfectly placed trills of ‘On mighty pens uplifted.’” — South Florida Classical Review
Radamisto with Opera Lafayette, February 2019
“Two of Tiridate’s generals, both written as high soprano roles, are passionately in love with Zenobia and Polissema: Rather than have the women, Veronique Filloux and Nola Richardson, costumed as men, the production let them stay women, which felt perfectly normal in this context. Richardson sang with a particularly appealing freshness and directness.” — Anne Midgette, The Washington Post
Magnificat with American Classical Orchestra, December 2017
”C.P.E.’s “Magnificat” is something else, a masterpiece in its own right, which looks as resolutely to the future as his father’s does at times to the past. Mr. Crawford and his forces gave it a good outing, with an especially fine turn by Nola Richardson, a soprano.” — James R. Oestreich, The New York Times
Die Zauberflöte with the Clarion Music Society, June 2017
”In a supporting cast with no weak links, the vocal standouts were the three “firsts”: Nola Richardson (First Lady), Ty Green (First Boy) and James Kennerley (First Armed Man).” — Opera News
“A Weekend in Paris” with the American Bach Soloists, February 2017
“That Marais chaconne, along with some lusciously polished singing by soprano Nola Richardson…were the musical equivalents of full-color photographs to revisit and cherish later.”
“Richardson upped the ante with her precisely drawn but liquid coloratura conversations with the woodwinds”
“The Vivaldi quotations remained perhaps inevitably odd to listeners who know the music only too well. But when Richardson returned for another articulate and supple exchange, this time with violinist Blumenstock, the old felt remade in a new image”
“The Mondonville “Grand Motet” came alive with musical scene painting, from an early march to the first grave and noble chorus to the swaying and natural figuration of Richardson’s exemplary, impassioned singing.” — Steven Winn, SF Classical Voice
“Noel” with the American Classical Orchestra, December 2019
“Here, though, was an introduction to the true revelation of the evening: soprano Nola Richardson. Her single song from the carols, Or nous dites Marie, became a ray of resplendent light, a voice of virginal purity for these very pure songs. Such a vocal temperament for this concert would be difficult to imagine, Not the clarity of her words or the sureness of her technical instrument, not even the sheer drama of her words in the Scarlatti cantata. But a clarity, virtually an innocence which flowed from her lips to the splendor of the church itself. That voice (oh hell, call it “angelic” if you have to) was shown to full advantage for Georg Philipp Telemann’s splendid “Epiphany” Cantata, where she shared the honors with alto recorder-player Nina Stern. Unlike Bach’s violin-soprano arias, the two Telemann arias were sheerly melodic…. Her voice with Ms. Stern’s contrapuntal lines, and sweet Bellini-like duets, were, in the quietest way, dazzling” — Harry Rolnick, ConcertoNet
Bach’s Lutheran Masses with Masaaki Suzuki, Yale and Juilliard415, October 2015
“Nola Richardson was especially impressive in the soprano parts, singing with beautiful tone…” — James R. Oestreich, The New York Times
Cantiques Spirituels with Les Delices, March 2015
“Both featured a single voice, in this case the young Australian soprano Nola Richardson, who sang the French-inflected Latin with brilliant diction, tonal clarity, and impeccable phrasing… Richardson’s command of these delicious twists and turns — evidently designed as an instrument of penitential disorientation for the listener — made them seem fascinatingly uncertain and at the same time, completely secure.” — Daniel Hathaway, Cleveland Classical
Cantiques Spirituels with Les Delices, March 2015
“Richardson possesses an unusually beautiful voice — sparkling and clear, full-bodied throughout its range, with a hint of darkness that adds an extra note of complexity. Her control is beyond reproach, and her operatic experience allowed her to bring a certain sense of drama to Thomas Aquinas’ hymn “Pange lingua” upon which Charpentier’s suite is based. That same dramatic quality enhanced the performances of Couperin’s and Charpentier’s “Lamentations of Jeremiah…. Richardson navigated the elaborate phrases beautifully, with clear and precise diction throughout (she sang the Latin texts with a French pronunciation that would have been heard at the time).” — Mark Satola ,Cleveland Plain Dealer
St. Matthew Passion with Seraphic Fire
“Among a constellation of Seraphic Fire’s best singers in the solo recitatives and arias, a new member stood out. Nola Richardson’spure, vibratoless soprano brought dramatic expressivity to “Blute nur, du liebes Herz” (Bleed on, dear heart) as well as fire in her description of the horrors of Golgotha.” -Lawrence Budmen, South Florida Classical Review, February 17, 2018
Magnificat with American Classical Orchestra
“C.P.E.’s “Magnificat” is something else, a masterpiece in its own right, which looks as resolutely to the future as his father’s does at times to the past. Mr. Crawford and his forces gave it a good outing, with an especially fine turn by Nola Richardson, a soprano.” – James R. Oestreich, The New York Times, December 8, 2017
Dixit Dominus with the Baltimore Choral Arts Society
”Soprano soloists Nola Richardson and Julie Bosworth offered bright, well-focused tone and supple phrasing in the Handel work.” – Tim Smith, The Baltimore Sun, November 1, 2017
Die Zauberflöte with the Clarion Music Society
“In a supporting cast with no weak links, the vocal standouts were the three “firsts”: Nola Richardson (First Lady), Ty Green (First Boy) and James Kennerley (First Armed Man).” – David Shengold, Opera News, June 2017
“A Weekend in Paris” with the American Bach Soloists
“That Marais chaconne, along with some lusciously polished singing by soprano Nola Richardson, suave solo work by flutist and piccolo player Janet See and violin leader Elizabeth Blumenstock, and the incisive contributions of the American Bach Choir, among other things, were the musical equivalents of full-color photographs to revisit and cherish later.” “Richardson upped the ante with her precisely drawn but liquid coloratura conversations with the woodwinds” “The Vivaldi quotations remained perhaps inevitably odd to listeners who know the music only too well. But when Richardsonreturned for another articulate and supple exchange, this time with violinist Blumenstock, the old felt remade in a new image” “The Mondonville “Grand Motet” came alive with musical scene painting, from an early march to the first grave and noble chorus to the swaying and natural figuration of Richardson’s exemplary, impassioned singing.” -Steven Winn, San Francisco Classical Voice, February 14. 2017
“Elegantly sung in Latin here by soprano Nola Richardson, these coloratura passages were impressive, to say the least. Though I’ve heard Nola Richardson before, especially with ABS, with whom she was a charming Galatea in 2015 in Handel’s Acis and Galatea, this time around Nola Richardson was absolutely astounding. Her voice is angelic in tone, yet full of emotional intensity. Richardson’s technical handling of the coloratura passages in this work by Corrette was impeccable. The result was stunningly beautiful.”
“Once again, however, the show was stolen by soprano Nola Richardson, who took the musical momentum created by her colleagues and redoubled it in dramatic fashion. How I would love to hear Nola Richardson in a leading role in an opera by either Jean-Baptiste Lully or Jean-Philippe Rameau! It’s regrettable that she is not in the cast for the forthcoming Philharmonia Baroque performance in April of Rameau’s Le Temple de la Gloire.” -James Roy MacBean, The Berkeley Daily Planet, February 17, 2017
B Minor Mass with Master Chorale of South Florida
“The soloists, most of them familiar to local audiences from appearances with Seraphic Fire, provided the most satisfying musical moments of the afternoon. Greenleaf
and Richardson offered a beautiful “Christe eleison,” with their voices blending ideally. Greenleaf’s high notes have an unusual purity, and Richardson has a lovely instrument and a fine command of Baroque ornament.” -Greg Stepanich, Palm Beach Arts Paper, November 29, 2016
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