Nazan Fikret

Nazan Fikret was born in the UK to Turkish and Irish parents and is a graduate of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. She is a former Making Music AYCA Winner, a Britten Pears Young Artist and a recipient of an International Opera Awards Bursary.

In the current season she makes her debuts with Opera North and Opera Poznań as Queen of the Night The Magic Flute; and Aristea in Laura Attridge’s adaptation of Pergolesi’s L’Olimpiade for Vache Baroque.

Among her recent highlights are First Lady The Magic Flute (Welsh National Opera); Queen of the Night Die Zauberflöte (Glyndebourne, Opera på Skäret, Garsington Opera, Nevill Holt Festival); Anne Trulove The Rake’s Progress, Teofane Ottone, Blonde The Abduction from the Seraglio, Clorinda La Cenerentola (English Touring Opera); Arasse Siroe, re de Persia and Handel’s Messiah (Nederlandse Reisopera); and Elin Agreed, a new community opera (Glyndebourne).

Nazan made her operatic debut at the age of thirteen singing Flora The Turn of the Screw in Elijah Moshinsky’s production at Wilton’s Music Hall. She went on to sing the role across Europe at venues including Aix-en-Provence, La Monnaie, Le Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, Theater an der Wien, Nederlandse Reisopera, English National Opera and Teatro Real.

Her operatic roles include Diane Disney The Perfect American by Philip Glass (world première at the Teatro Real and for English National Opera); Ninetta La Périchole (Garsington Opera); Fiordiligi Così fan tutte (Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra / European Opera Centre); How the Whale Became by Julian Philips (Royal Opera House); Euridice Orfeo ed Euridice (Longborough Festival Opera); Madame Herz The Impresario (Edinburgh Fringe Festival); Queen of the Night The Magic Flute (Wexford Festival Opera, Rota das Artes, Lisbon); and Governess The Turn of the Screw (Seastar Opera). Roles covered include Wendy Peter Pan by Richard Ayres, and Angelika Figaro Gets a Divorce by Elena Langer (Welsh National Opera); Fiorilla Il turco in Italia (Garsington Opera); and Queen of the Night (English National Opera, Welsh National Opera and Scottish Opera).

Nazan has appeared on BBC Radio 3’s In-Tune in The Lads in their Hundreds, in concert with Iain Burnside; sang the soprano solo for the Turkish Hymn (Arditi) for the Turkish Presidential visit to London. Her concert appearances include Handel Messiah (Theatre Carré, Amsterdam) and recitals for Oxford Lieder, as a finalist in the Das Lied competition and as a Making Music Young Concert Artist. She also performed as a soloist aboard HMS Havengore for the Queen Elizabeth II’s Official 90th Birthday River Pageant.