Biography

German mezzo-soprano Nora Kazemieh graduated with a master’s degree in Opera from the HfMT Hamburg, where she studied with Yvi Jänicke and Burkhard Kehring. Here she was awarded second place at the Elise-Meyer Competition and third place at the Mozart competition. She earned her B.M. in Vocal Performance at the Crane School of Music in New York, studying under Deborah Massell. Nora has participated in masterclasses with Angela Denoke, Christiane Iven, and Ulrike Sonntag, as well as in the “Exzellenz-Labor Gesang” under the artistic direction of Hedwig Fassbender.

During her final year of studies in Hamburg, she performed the title role in Händel’s “Rinaldo”, as well as Flosshilde and Erda in “Das Rheingold”. In 2016 she made her debut as the Child in Ravel’s “L’enfant et les sortilèges” at the Hawaii Performing Arts Festival. Last winter she was first heard at the Staatstheater Wiesbaden, singing the Second Nymph in a new production of “Rusalka”. She will return to Wiesbaden this season to perform the role of Siegrune in “Die Walküre”. Her other operatic roles include Hänsel in “Hänsel und Gretel”, Aricia in Milhauds “Der befreite Theseus”, and Mrs. Splinters in Copland’s “The Tender Land”.

On the concert stage, Nora performed in Carnegie Hall as a featured soloist in Vaughan Williams’ “Serenade to Music”. A passionate singer of sacred music, her oratorio repertoire also includes Händel’s “Messiah”, Mendelssohn’s “Elias”, as well as the “Christmas Oratorio” and “St. John’s Passion” by J. S. Bach.

Since 2022, the young singer has been a regular performer at the Opernloft in Hamburg, where she made her debut in “Mord auf Backbord”, a comedic pasticcio featuring arias from operas such as “Carmen” and “Il trovatore”, as well as chanson and Neapolitan songs. This season she is also singing the title role in an abridged version of “Der Rosenkavalier”. In the summer of 2023, she sang the part of Truth in a staged production of Händel’s oratorio “The Triumph of Time and Truth” with OperOderSpree.