Nicholas Jenkins - conductor
Nicholas Jenkins is establishing a reputation as one of the UK’s most exciting young opera conductors. He is currently conducting a staged Rossini Petite Messe Solennelle (Kunstfest Weimar, Bregenz Festival, Paris Opéra Comique, Berlin Radialsystem, Opéra de Dijon, Hannover KunstFestSpiele, Grand Théâtre de Luxembourg). Forthcoming engagements include assistant conductor to Sir Simon Rattle with the Berlin and Vienna Philharmonic Orchestras for Bizet Carmen at the Salzburg Festival and Salzburg Easter Festival 2012, Massenet Cendrillon (Blackheath Halls Opera), and the British premiere of the four act version of Puccini Edgar (New Sussex Opera). He also assists Marc Minkowski for Meyerbeer Les Huguenots and Verdi Il Trovatore (La Monnaie, Brussels)
Recent highlights include conducting three performances of Massenet’s Don Quichotte at La Monnaie, starring José van Dam, Offenbach Die Rheinnixen - Les Fées du Rhin (British Première), Vaughan Williams Hugh the Drover and Gounod Mireille with New Sussex Opera, concerts with the Orchestra of Opéra de Toulon, Tavener Ikon of Light with the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir in Tallinn and Glasgow, and working as chorus master and assistant conductor for Massenet Cendrillon (Paris Opéra Comique). He recently made his debut at Opera North assisting Oliver von Dohnányi for Bellini Norma.
Nicholas Jenkins’ opera conducting includes Offenbach L’Ile de Tulipatan and Weill Der Jasager (Opéra National de Lyon), Massenet Don Quichotte (La Monnaie), Dove Tobias and the Angel, Mozart Idomeneo, Offenbach Die Rheinnixen – British Première, Vaughan Williams Hugh the Drover and The Poisoned Kiss (New Sussex Opera), Katori The Lily of the Valley (ROH Linbury), Mozart Così fan tutte (Oxford Playhouse, Besançon), Britten The Turn of the Screw (Dartington Festival), Donizetti L’elisir d’amore, Tchaikovsky Eugene Onegin, Verdi Nabucco (Blackheath Halls), and Weill The Seven Deadly Sins (Oxford, London).
He has worked extensively as assistant conductor to Marc Minkowski, at Opéra National de Paris, Théâtre du Châtelet, Opéra Comique, Théâtre de la Monnaie, Opéra de Lyon, Netherlands Opera, and the Festivals of Aix-en-Provence, Bremen, and Salzburg. He has assisted other conductors including David Parry, Mark Shanahan, and Jean-Christophe Spinosi. His operatic repertoire as assistant conductor and/or chorus master includes Alcina, Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Carmen, Cendrillon (Massenet), La Cenerentola, Die Entführung aus dem Serail, Die Feen (Wagner), Les Huguenots, Idomeneo, Norma, Le Nozze di Figaro, Platée, Roméo et Juliette, Semele, Thaïs, Vanessa (Barber), and Vert-Vert (Offenbach).
Nicholas Jenkins studied at Merton College, Oxford, and the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. He is currently Musical Director of New Sussex Opera, and Chorus Master to the Chœur des Musiciens du Louvre – Grenoble. He built his career as a singer and chorus master, and has conducted most of the major choral repertoire, as well as many orchestral concerts. He was the first ever full-time Chorus Master to Grange Park Opera, and has been guest chorus master to Chœur du Châtelet, Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir, Geoffrey Mitchell Choir, Philharmonia Chorus, and Trinity College of Music Chorus.