soprano
"...Nicolaidou is admirable, but her most important feature is the quality of colour of the voice; very round and fleshy" (Mahler, Bilbao)
Praised by the French press as "a honey-colored voice with a noble sound and moving presence", Cypriot soprano Zoe Nicolaidou studied at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna – Magister Artium. A laureate of the prestigious Atelier Lyrique at Opera de Paris she received the Award for the most promising young singer of the season, Le Prix Lyrique du cercle Carpeaux.
Nicolaidou made her debut at the Opéra National de Paris as Prima Sorella in Puccini’s Suor Angelica under Music Director Philippe Jordan, and returned to perform the roles of Kathe in Fenelon’s Faust under Bernharndt Kontarsky, Barbarina in Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro under the baton of Evelino Pido and Dan Ettinger, Amor in Gluck’s Orpheus und Eurydike under Thomas Hengelbrock, and the soprano solo in Mahler’s Fourth Symphony. Soon after, she made her debut at the Rudolphinum in Prague in the world premiere of Kabat's piece for string quartet and soprano Misterium Fidei. (Vlach Quartet)
Operatic highlights include the roles of Amor in Gluck’s Orpheus und Eurydike at Palais Garnier and Lincoln Center in New York, Susanna in Le Nozze di Figaro at the Festival Oper Klosterneuburg and from the same opera, Contessa in a New Year's concert at the Montpellier Opéra Corum; Serpetta in Mozart’s
La Finta Giardiniera in MC 93 Bobigny, France under Guillaume Tourniaire;
Euridice in Orfeo ed Euridice and Flower girl in Wagner’s Parsifal at Theater Aachen, Micaëla in Bizet’s Carmen in Vienna; Mae Jones in Kurt Weill’s Street Scene at the Amphitheatre Bastille; Popelka in Martinu’s Veselohra na moste at the Festival Retz in Austria; The Fairy and The Night in Purcell’s The Fairy Queen in Theatre du Jorat (Switzerland); The Mother (Menotti's Amahl and the Night Visitors) at the Church of the Heavenly Rest in New York; Amore and Valetto in L'incoronazione di Poppea at the Festival de Menton, France under Maestro J.C. Spinosi.
Concert perfomances across Europe have included: Brahms’ Requiem at the Festival La Roque d’Antheron, Mahler's Symphony No.4 at Bilbao Concert Hall, Palacio Euskalduna Kuursaal, Vittoria Theatre and Pamplona Auditorio under conductor Jun Merkl, as well as in Casa da Musica de Porto in Portugal and with the Thessaloniki State Orchestra; Bach’s Christmas Oratorio and Magnificat, Haydn’s Stabat Mater in Vienna, Die sieben letzten Worte unseres Erlösers at the Festival Echternach, B minor Mass with the Real Filharmonia de Galicia under the baton of Antoni Ros-Marba, Schumann’s Der Rose Pilgefahrt at the Amphitheatre Bastille, Von Williams' Serenade to Music (in Palais Garnier conducted by Philippe Jordan), Händel's Dixit Dominus and Vivaldi's Gloria at the Palau de la Musica Cataluña Barcelona, Chapelle de la Trinité in Lyon, Angers Nantes Opera and Chapelle Royale de Versailles conducted by Jean Christophe Spinosi); Ravel's Mélodies Hébraïques at Casa da Musica in Portugal, Faure’s Requiem and Handel’s The Messiah with the Cyprus Symphony Orchestra, song recitals at the Pharos Foundation in Cyprus (Piano Olga Zado), as well as a number of world premieres including Piotr Moss' "Et eux le silence".
She has furtermore appeared in renowned venues and festivals including , Musikverein Wien, Villa Medicis in Rome, Wratislavia Cantans Festival, Wiltz Festival, Opéra de Toulon, Klangvokal Dortmund Festival, Cairo Opera House.
Nicolaidou has begun in recent years focusing on more full lyrical roles ranging from Mozart to Verdi and Puccini heroines including: La Contessa, Donna Elvira, Desdemona, Luisa Miller, Amelia (Boccanegra), Mimi, Liu and Rusalka
Her most recent Role Debuts include: Antonia in Les Contes d’ Hofmann in Austria (Oper Rund um), a jump in as Violetta in La Traviata at Opera La Baugé in France and Nedda in I Pagliacci at the Ehrbaarsaal in Vienna.
Zoe Nicolaidou has recorded Mahler’s Fourth Symphony for Skarbo Recording Label.
She is the First Prize-winner of the Kyrenia Opera Award and the Schlossoper Haldenstein International Singing Competition and was a finalist at the Hilde Zadek Competition.