Bio
Hailed as a “richly powerful singing actress” (Broadway World), Nina Yoshida Nelsen captivates audiences throughout North America and Europe with her world-class voice and magnetic stage presence. In the 2023-24 Season, Nina joined Indianapolis Opera for the title role in Carmen, sang in Alcina (Melissa) with Seattle Opera, sang in Madama Butterfly (Suzuki) with Opera Carolina, sang in The Marriage of Figaro (Marcellina) with Utah Opera, and sang in An American Soldier (Mother Chen) at the Perelman Performing Arts Center, which she has previously performed with Bard Opera. This season she appears as the alto soloist in Messiah with Boise Philharmonic.
Nina also performs her signature role of Suzuki in Madama Butterfly at Anchorage Opera and Utah Opera this season, and will sing the role at Calgary Opera and Opera Colorado in the 2025-26 Season. Nina has performed Suzuki with Atlanta Opera, New Orleans Opera, Portland Opera, Manitoba Opera, Utah Opera, Atlanta Opera, Opera Santa Barbara, Phoenicia International Festival of the Voice, Sarasota Opera, and New York City Opera, and covered the role with Lyric Opera of Chicago. With her home company of Opera Santa Barbara, Nina has leant her interpretations of the role of Fricka in the Dove reduction of Die Walküre, a double bill of El Amor Brujo and Il Tabarro (Frugola), and The Crucible (Tituba), as well as their 25th anniversary concert. Nina made her Boston Lyric Opera debut in Cavalleria rusticana (Mama Lucia). She has also performed in Amahl and the Night Visitors (Mother) at New York’s Avery Fisher Hall.
An established interpreter of new works, Nina has performed in Jack Perla’s An American Dream (Mama) with Opera Santa Barbara, Kentucky Opera, the Lyric Opera of Chicago, Anchorage Opera, and Seattle Opera. Regarding her performance in Mark Adamo’s Becoming Santa Claus (Queen Sophine), Fran Zell of Splash Magazine writes: “Yoshida Nelsen, a seasoned artist making her COT debut, offers nothing less than perfection in her operatic interpretation of a tempestuous mother…a poignant, powerhouse of a mezzo…” She has sung in Bound (Khanh) with Seattle Opera and Houston Grand Opera; Huang Ruo’s Angel Island with Santa Fe Opera; and in The Memory Stone (Woman) with Houston Grand Opera. World premieres include Ruo/Hwang’s The Rift (Phoung Tran) with Washington National Opera.
In concert, she recently performed selections of orchestrated lieder by Alma Mahler with the Toledo Symphony and performed in the Uplifting Asian Voices concert at Boston Lyric Opera. She has performed as the alto soloist in Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with the Rhode Island Philharmonic, Santa Barbara Symphony, the Santa Fe Concert Association, Southwest Florida Symphony, and at Carnegie Hall; Mahler’s Songs of a Wayfarer with the Grand Junction and Flagstaff Symphony Orchestras; Mozart’s Requiem with the Santa Barbara and Southwest Florida Symphonies; Verdi’s Requiem with the Guelph Symphony and Bakersfield Symphony Orchestra; and Handel’s Messiah with Nashville Symphony Orchestra and Santa Barbara Chorale.
Nina has won first prize in the Performing Arts Foundation, the Profant Foundation and the Santa Barbara Foundation Vocal Competitions. She was also a national semifinalist in the Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition, a national finalist in the Loren L. Zachary Society Vocal Competition, and a finalist in the Jensen Foundation Vocal Competition.
Nina is a graduate of Boston University and the Academy of Vocal Arts in Philadelphia.