Nicholas Pallesen
Vocalists
— Baritone
-
Manager: Michael Benchetrit
Management Territory: Worldwide
"Baritone Nicholas Pallesen...brought authority and tonal beauty to Robert, his gravity belying his relative youth" —Heidi Waleson, The Wall Street Journal- As Robert Storch in Intermezzo with New York City Opera
“The evening's most distinguished element was Nicholas Pallesen's Falstaff. The young baritone has a voice of true Verdian scope, and he handled the language deftly… the voice itself and its deployment augured well for his success in the big Verdi roles.” —Fred Cohen, Opera News Online-The title role in Falstaff at the Juilliard Opera Center
“As the doomed Klinghoffer, Nicholas Pallesen made it clear with his muscular, well-projected baritone that he wouldn't go meekly, and the mellow, modulated tone with which he later consoled his wife made for a wonderfully moving contrast. Pallesen's floating delivery of "Aria of the Falling Body," an exquisitely spectral meditation sung as Klinghoffer's body plunges into the water in a state resembling stopped time, was simultaneously chilling and calming.” —Joshua Rosenblum, Opera News Online-The title role in The Death of Klinghoffer at the Juilliard Opera Center
About
A native of Riverside, CA, Baritone Nicholas Pallesen is quickly establishing himself as one of the most promising talents of his generation. Critics have praised him for his "authority and tonal beauty", "handsome, stylish singing", "depth of feeling", and his "formidable portrayal in bearing and voice". He is a 2012 recipient of a Richard Tucker Career Grant from the Richard Tucker Foundation. He is also a former Grand Finalist in the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions and can be seen in the documentary, "The Audition".
This season, . . . Mr. Pallesen will make two important title-role debuts: first in Il Barbiere di Siviglia with the El Paso Opera (where he will have appeared earlier in the season in concert) and then in Rigoletto with the Shreveport Opera. He will return to the Metropolitan Opera’s roster for Thomas Ades’ The Tempest to cover Sebastian. Future engagements include debuts with the Metropolitan, the Ft Worth and Cincinnati Operas, all in leading roles.
Last season, Mr. Pallesen joined the roster of the Los Angeles Opera to cover the title role in Eugene Onegin and returned to the Metropolitan Opera covering Lysander in The Enchanted Island. With New York City Opera, he appeared as Pluto in Georg Phillip Telemann's Orpheus and covered the role of Philippe in the American premiere of Rufus Wainwright's Prima Donna. In March 2012, he made his role and company debut singing Enrico in Lucia di Lammermoor with Baltimore Concert Opera. In the summer, Mr. Pallesen was heard in the Susan Graham and Friends concert at the Santa Fe Opera.
In the 2010-2011 season, he received widespread acclaim for his portrayal of Robert Storch in Strauss’ Intermezzo at New York City Opera opposite Mary Dunleavy, which followed a successful debut at NYCO as Sharpless in Madama Butterfly earlier in the year. The season also included Sharpless in his debut with El Paso Opera, covering the role of Bill Foster in the New York premiere of Stephen Schwartz’s opera Séance on a Wet Afternoon at NYCO, and a debut with Opera New Jersey singing John Sorel in The Consul.
Mr. Pallesen is a recent graduate of the Juilliard Opera Center. During his time in JOC, he performed Professor Himmelhuber in Krenek’s Schwergewicht, oder die Ehre der Nation under the baton of James Conlon, the title role in John Adams’ The Death of Klinghoffer conducted by the composer, the title role in Stephen Wadsworth’s production of Verdi’s Falstaff, and Top in Copland’s The Tender Land. He is also a former young artist with the Santa Fe Opera and Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, where he sang several featured roles.
Mr. Pallesen is a winner of the Giulio Gari, the Sullivan Foundation, the Opera Index, and the National Federation of Music Clubs Competitions. He has also won awards from the Loren L. Zachary Society, the Liederkranz Foundation, the Gerda Lissner Foundation, the Licia Albanese-Puccini Foundation, the Opera Birmingham Competition, the Santa Fe Opera, and a Richard Gold Career Grant from the Shoshana Foundation, among others.
Updated August 2012
