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Born in the UK of Turkish and Irish parents, Nazan Fikret studied at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama under Penelope Mackay and Yvonne Kenny. Nazan made her operatic début 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 in the Luc Bondy production at the Aix-en-Provence Festival (conducted by Daniel Harding) which then toured to La Monnaie, Le Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, Theater an der Wien, Edinburgh Festival King’s Theatre, and in a Stephen Langridge production for the Reisopera. As a teenager, she also sang Beth The Tender Land (Copland) with BBC Radio 3 at the Barbican (conducted by Leonard Slatkin) and recorded Second Boy The Magic Flute for Chandos (conducted by the late Sir Charles Mackerras). While still a student, Nazan made her English National Opera début as Flora in the David McVicar production and reprised the role in the revival conducted by Sir Charles Mackerras. She was the only original cast member to perform in the McVicar production at the Teatro Real in 2010. Since leaving the GSMD, Nazan’s roles include Diane Disney The Perfect American (Philip Glass) in the world première at the Teatro Real (subsequently recorded for DVD) and at ENO, Ninetta La Perichole for Garsington Opera, Madame Herz The Impresario at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Queen of the Night The Magic Flute for Wexford Festival Opera Shortworks and ENO Baylis Opera Squad, and Governess The Turn of the Screw for Seastar Opera. Nazan has appeared on In Tune on BBC Radio 3 in The Lads in their Hundreds, with Iain Burnside in concert, she was chosen as the soprano solo for the Turkish Hymn (Arditi) for the Turkish Presidential visit to London, and has performed Walton songs at the City of London Festival. Her concert appearances include The Company of Heaven (Britten) for Canterbury Choral Society and the Poulenc Gloria for Nottingham Choral Trust. In the 2013 and 2014 seasons Nazan sung Fordiligi in Mozart's Cosi Fan Tutte with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra and the European Opera Centre, How the Whale Became (Julian Philips) at the Royal Opera Linbury and Governess The Turn of the Screw in Norfolk. 2015 engagements included working closely with Welsh National Opera; cover Queen of the Night inThe Magic Flute, cover Wendy in the UK premiere of Richard Ayres Peter Pan, touring to the Royal Opera House. Nazan also performed contemporary scenes for Aldeburgh Music's Jerwood Scheme. Nazan is a 2015 Making Music AYCA Winner, a 2015/16 International Opera Awards bursary winner. Future plans include a return to the WNO to cover Angelica in Figaro Gets a Divorce, as well as singing the role of Karolka in Jenufa (Janacek) for Longborough Festival Opera/The Opera Project. |
