Nicola Wemyss – Mezzo-Soprano

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Nicola Wemyss is a Scottish mezzo-soprano renowned for her interpretative insight and artistry in Early Music and Historical Performance Practice. She graduated with honours from the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire and undertook postgraduate studies at the Royal Conservatory of The Hague.

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Her solo career began with distinction upon winning the inaugural Chimay International Competition for Baroque Singing—chaired by William Christie—which was a forerunner to the now-renowned Le Jardin des Voix. Nicola has since performed with leading orchestras and ensembles across Europe and further afield, under the direction of acclaimed conductors including Frans Brüggen, William Christie, Richard Egarr, Ton Koopman, Paul van Nevel, Jos van Veldhoven and others. Her collaborations include Les Arts Florissants (France), the Orchestra of the 18th Century (Netherlands), the Netherlands Bach Society (Netherlands), The Brigantes Orchestra (England), the Huelgas-Ensemble (Belgium), and the Apotheosis Orchestra (Belgium), among others.

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Her repertoire encompasses oratorio, concert and operatic works ranging from the Baroque to the 20th century. Operatic highlights include Hébé in Rameau’s Les Indes Galantes with Frans Brüggen and the Orchestra of the 18th Century; Dido in Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas with Jed Wentz and Musica ad Rhenum; and the title role in Rossi’s Orfeo with Jos van Veldhoven and Capella Figuralis.

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She also features prominently on several Brilliant Classics releases, including Dido in Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas, Dafne in Handel’s Apollo e Dafne, Diana in Galliard’s Pan and Syrinx, and the Mozart roles of Silvia in Ascanio in Alba and Annio in La Clemenza di Tito, all in collaboration with Jed Wentz and Musica ad Rhenum. Earlier in her recording career, she contributed to interpretations of Charpentier’s music with Les Arts Florissants under William Christie, released by Erato.

 

For Outhere Music, she appears in I Silenti, a fusion work based on music by Monteverdi and Fabrizio Cassol. Her performances of Renaissance and early Baroque repertoire by Padovano and Demantius with the Huelgas-Ensemble, directed by Paul van Nevel, are captured on Harmonia Mundi. With Naxos, she portrays Eliakim in Handel/Smith’s pastiche oratorio Gideon, Dejanira in Hercules, and both the Queen of Sheba and First Woman in Solomon, in recordings led by Joachim C Martini with the Junge Kantorei Frankfurt.​
 

Nicola has recently broadened her repertoire to include more dramatic 19th-century works, notably performing chamber orchestral adaptations of Verdi’s Requiem. This body of work reflects Nicola's breadth as a performer, embracing repertoire from the Renaissance to 20th-century works, and showcasing her distinctive musical voice across styles and centuries.