Born in 1995 in Zurich, Nicole Wacker got first acquainted with
classical music when she was six years old singing in the children's choir
of the opera house in Zurich. She then graduated her Bachelor's degree as
well as her Master of Performance "summa cum laude" in Berne.
She is the winner of the AsLiCo competition and the 'Kiefer Hablitzel'
and the 'Friedl Wald' Foundation Music Prizes.
From 2015 to 2018, she participated in the summer courses of the Austria
Barock Akademie (ABA), where she discovered her passion for early music
working with Susanne Ryden, Roberta Mameli, Mary Collins and Christian
Hilz and thanks to which she made her debuts at the ORF Radiokulturhaus in
Vienna, the Winter Festival in Schwetzingen and the Royal Armoury in
Stockholm. Other masterclasses gave her the opportunity to work with Emma
Kirkby, Christiane Oelze, Eric Schneider, Sophie Raynaud, and Michael
Volle. In the category of Lied she was brought forward by Thomas Hampson,
Martina Jankovà, Gerard Wyss and Ivo Kahanek.
In 2021-2023, she was a member of the prestigious Accademia Teatro alla
Scala in Milan, where she studied with Luciana D'Intino, Pietro Spagnoli
and worked with Gregory Kunde and Roberto Abbado. She made her debut in
various roles at the Teatro alla Scala, including Il Barbiere di
Siviglia (Berta); Thais (Charmeuse); La Cenerentola
(Clorinda) and in the world premiere of the children's opera Il
Piccolo Principe by Pierangelo Valtinoni.
Nicole Wacker also made her debut at the Donizetti Opera Festival in
Bergamo in Chiara e Serafina (Serafina) and at the Bregenzer
Festspiele singing the title role in Joseph Haydn's Armida. As a
winner of the prestigious AsLiCo Competition, she won the role of the
Queen of the Night in the production of Die Zauberflöte with Opera
Lombardia on tour in Italy, role she has also sung at the Teatro Verdi in
Trieste, at the Herrenchiemsee Festspiele, in Essen and Bonn.
These productions have led her to work alongside renowned conductors
such as Sesto Quatrini, Beatrice Venezi, Vitali Alekseenok and Jonathan
Brandani. Regular collaborations with Roberto Abbado have also taken her
to the Teatro Lirico in Milan, the Teatro Comunale in Bologna and the
Opera Carlo Felice in Genoa.
Recent engagements include: a concert with music by Felix
Mendelssohn-Bartholdy conducted by Roberto Abbado at the Teatro Carlo
Felice in Genoa; Die Zauberflöte at the Herrenchiemsee Festspiele,
in Essen, and Bonn; Alcina, Vespertine, and Svadba
in Bonn; and concerts in Muscat.
Among her engagements of the 2025–26 season are Nabucco, Die
Ameise, Hänsel und Gretel, and Il Barbiere di Siviglia
in Bonn.
August 2025