The Dutch soprano, Nienke Otten, received her Master's degree in Classical Music from the Royal Conservatory of The Hague in 2009, where she studied under guidance of Peter Nilsson and Sasja Hunnego. She currently studies with Margreet Honig in Amsterdam.
Nienke Otten thereafter made her operatic role debut as Norina in Donizetti's Don Pasquale with Camerata Amsterdam, led by conductor Jeroen Weierink. In 2011, she featured in the leading role of Poppea in the musical adaptation of Monteverdi's L'Incoronazione di Poppea, produced by Vocal LAB and the Amsterdam based dance company ISH. In the same year, she performed at the annual Amsterdam Canal Festival in the Dutch premiere of Die Flut and the Abstrakte Oper by the German composer Boris Blacher. Other roles on the operatic stage include Morgana in George Frideric Handel's Alcina, Silvia in Haydn's L'Isola Disabitata and Pamina in W.A. Mozart's Die Zauberflöte. Otten also featured in a musical opera produced by Hollands Diep and sang the title role of the children's opera The Little Match Girl by the Dutch opera ensemble Holland Opera.
In the classical genre, solo oratorio performances include J.S. Bach's St. Matthew Passion (BWV 244), St John Passion (BWV 245), Magnificat (BWV 243), Mass in B minor (BWV 232) and several cantatas. Besides J.S. Bach's music, Otten also featured as a soloist in Antonio Vivaldi's Gloria, G.F. Handel's Te Deum and Messiah, W.A. Mozart's Coronation Mass, Gabriel Fauré's Requiem, Francis Poulenc's Stabat Mater, Johannes Brahms' Ein Deutsches Requiem and Orff's Carmina Burana. Nienke has sung these pieces under the baton of conductors including Matthew Halls (Hague Philharmonic Orchestra), Jos Vermunt (Residentie Bach Ensembles), Ton Koopman (Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra), Peter Robinson (Limburg Symphony Orchestra) and Vincent de Kort (Dutch Symphony Orchestra) and worked with directors such as Cilia Hogerzeil, Joke Hoolboom, Stephen Lawless, Sybrand van der Werf and Elsina Jansen. She currently lives in Bielefeld, Germany. |
Source: Lake District Summer Music Website; Nienke Otten Website & Facebook profile; Photos 037, 087, 273, 316, 358: Jens Fricke; Photos 001, 007, 008, 011, 014, 040 : Sarah Wijzenbeek; Photos 701, 708, 713: Philipp Ottendörfer
Contributed by Aryeh Oron (January 2019) |