About

Soprano Winnie Nieh (pronounced “near”) graduated from Harvard and holds Associate diplomas from Trinity College London in piano, violin and voice.  Gifted with perfect pitch, she has delighted audiences as she “fearlessly flew through the stratospheric range” and “rose thrillingly to the occasion [when called upon for] an electrifying vocal high-wire act.”  She has appeared as a soloist at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center and the Austrian Embassy, as well as in Germany, Canada, South Korea and Hong Kong.  She made her European solo debut with legendary Maestro Helmuth Rilling in Bach’s Cantata BWV 147.  She won First Place in St. Andrews Arts Council’s International Aria Competition, Third Place & Audience Favorite in Madison Early Music Festival’s Handel Aria Competition, was a National Finalist in New York Lyric Opera’s Competition, and a Runner-up in two consecutive San Francisco Classical Voice Best of the Bay polls.  She has also served on the Board of Trustees of the Grammy-winning vocal ensemble, Chanticleer. 

An avid proponent of new music, she has collaborated with many composers and librettists in New York, Boston, San Francisco and Los Angeles, premiering and performing their works — including David Conte, Richard Aldag, Julie Barwick, Nicholas Benavides, Matt Boehler, Erin Bregman, Monica Chew, Eric Choate, Julian Crouch, Peter Engelbert, Richard Festinger, Aaron Gervais, John Glore, Ericsson Hatfield, Kyle Hovatter, Shuying Li, Bryan Lin, Larry Lipkis, Emma Logan, Colin Martin, Michael Robert Smith, Beth Ratay, Davide Verotta, Shawne Workman, and Rita Yumeng Zhang. 

Her solo oratorio experience is wide-ranging: Bach’s Mass in B Minor, St John Passion, Magnificat in D and Cantata BWV 147 Herz und Mund und Tat und Leben, works by Monteverdi and Schütz, Vivaldi’s Gloria, Handel’s Messiah, Haydn’s Creation (as Eve) and Lord Nelson Mass, M.A. Charpentier’s Messe de Minuit, Mozart’s Requiem, Coronation Mass and Der Messias, Mendelssohn’s Magnificat (Op.69/3), Brahms’ Ein deutsches Requiem, Fauré’s Requiem and Beethoven’s Mass in C.  An art song lover, she has participated in The Song Continues at Carnegie Hall and was a Professional Fellow at SongFest, where she performed with celebrated collaborative pianist Graham Johnson.  She was also featured in a staged Schubert Lieder performance at the Austrian Embassy in D.C.  In opera, her full and partial roles include: Poppea (L’Incoronazione di Poppea), Belinda and Second Woman (Dido and Aeneas), Susanna (Le Nozze di Figaro), Pamina and Papagena (Die Zauberflöte), Blondchen (Die Entführung aus dem Serail), Zerlina (Don Giovanni), Despina (Così Fan Tutte), Madame Herz (The Impresario), Amor (Orfeo ed Euridice), Voce dal cielo (Don Carlo), Rosina (Il Barbiere di Siviglia), Elvira (L’Italiana in Algeri), Olympia (Les Contes d’Hoffmann), La Fée (Cendrillon), Lucinde (Gounod’s Le Médecin Malgré Lui), Princess and Fire (L’Enfant et les Sortilèges), Sophie (Der Rosenkavalier), Violetta (La Traviata) and Simonetta (Simonetta by Larry Lipkis).

 

Headshot: Blazej Sendzielski

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