Nadine Balbeisi
Biography
The American/Jordanian Soprano, Nadine Balbeisi launched her international solo career when she moved to Germany, singing Oratorio, Chamber music, Opera and Recitals. Her repertoire extends from the XIV through the XVIII Centuries with a specialization in early music. She has performed with various ensembles and orchestras such as Canter alla Viola, Viola da Samba, Atalante, Concerto con anima, Neues Rheinisches Kammerorchester, Neue Düsseldorfer Hofmusik, Churpfälsische Hofkapelle and Solamente Naturali.
She received a Bachelor’s degree in vocal performance from the University of Michigan, studying with George Shirley and obtained a second degree from the Hochschule für Musik Köln with Barbara Schlick.
A sought-after early music singer, Balbeisi founded the unique duo Cantar alla Viola together with viola da gambist Fernando Marín. She has developed a special art of singing which enables her voice to mix and blend with different instruments of the viol family. With her Duo, she has researched and recorded repertoire for several critically acclaimed CDs. The duo’s commitment to publishing works of lesser-known composers can be heard in the album of complete works dedicated to Juan Blas de Castro (1561-1631) and a CD of the Second Booke of Songs and Ayres (1601) by Robert Jones. The album “The Vihuela de arco in the Reign of Aragon” displays Spanish vocal repertoire from 14-16th centuries accompanied by the bowed vihuela In commemoration of the 400th year anniversary of the Second Book of Songs and Ayres (1612) by William Corkine, the duo released the CD Each Lovely Grace. The most recent CD publication of Italian Renaissance music, Segreti Accenti, was nominated for the International Classical Music Awards.
A prizewinner of the Kammeroper Schloß Rheinsberg International Competition, Nadine has also performed a wide range of opera roles including Adele, Bastienne, Despina, Dido, Papagena, Serpina and Euridice (in Luigi Rossi’s Orfeo). In 2010 she was awarded as “Artist in Residence” in Spain, researching 16th Century Polyphony from the Archives of the Cathedral of Huesca and performing Spanish music. She was also awarded with a scholarship in 2011 to participate and perform in the “Lied Course” at the Franz Schubert Institute in Austria. She received the “Emerging Artist Award” from the University of Michigan in 2013.
Her CD of Italian laments with the ensemble Atalante received outstanding reviews including a „Diapason d’Or” and was hailed by Musicweb International as “Recording of the Year 2011.”
Nadine shows her versatility as a singer in an exciting trio Viola da Samba, creating a bridge between Renaissance and Brazilian music (CD: “De rio a Rio”). She also performed as the soprano soloist in the world premiere of the Missa Brasileira composed by Jean Kleeb, which was subsequently recorded by Helbling Editions.
This year she is a grant recipient of the German Music Council - Deutschen Musikrates - Neustart Kultur for a project on 17. Century Italian music.
PRESS COMMENTS
"…I was already a strong admirer of her from her work with the duo ensemble Cantar alla Viola. Her highly expressive and utterly pure voice is the perfect instrument for this repertory. Her performances on this disc are, in a word, ravishing."
ANDREW O'CONNER, International Record Review
"Through the whole compass her voice is remarkably strong and flexible, and the text is always clearly audible."
JOHAN VAN VEEN, MusicWeb International
"Nadine Balbeisi sang an affecting, natural Dido, free from any clichéd stiffness, made all the more attractive by the interesting, almost fruity quality of her voice."
MICHAEL MILLER, The Berkshire Review for the Arts