Nadine Mortimer-Smith - Soprano
"Soprano Nadine Mortimer-Smith proved an admirable choice of soloist in Richard Strauss’s challenging Four Last Songs, soaring effortlessly and powerfully over the lush orchestral background......a young voice with real potential"
Four Last Songs - Strauss
Philip R Buttall (2011)
Nadine Mortimer-Smith was born in Surrey to Jamaican/Arawak Indian parents and has studied on the opera courses at City Lit and Morley College, ENO Opera Works at the London Coliseum and most recently at the APS Opera Studio.
Nadine is mentored by the British soprano Dame Josephine Barstow and studies with the Welsh tenor Jeffrey Talbot. In October 2009, Nadine was awarded the prize for the Most Promising Voice at the inaugural Voice of Black Opera Competition, chaired by the legendary Grace Bumbry along with Julian Joseph, Anthony Negus and Philip Herbert.
Her professional operatic work has recently included two world premières creating the roles of Alicia, Swaharaga and Lucia in a new opera called Naciketa by Nigel Osborne and Ariel Dorfman with Opera Circus and Erin for Steven Kilpatrick's opera Flightpaths (libretto Adam Strickson) which forms part of the Yorkshire 2011/12 Cultural Olympiad. Other performances include Radio 2 (Tribute to Malcolm McLaren) and in Norway (The African Madonna); Dido (Dido and Aeneas) with Bury Court Opera/Southbank Sinfonia; Mimi (La Bohème) and Maria Stuarda both with Riverside Opera; Cio Cio San (cover) and Kate Pinkerton (Madama Butterfly) with Dartington and Nadine was delighted to join Dartington again in August 2010 to make her debut in the role of Countess (Le nozze di Figaro); Porgy and Bess with Opera de Lyon and the Edinburgh International Festival; Carmen Jones at the Royal Festival Hall and Lost in the Stars at the Queen Elizabeth Hall. Nadine devised, produced and cast the opera compilation “Why Don’t you Just Sing Jazz?” supportd by the Arts Council England for the Grimeborn 09 Festival at the Arcola Theatre.
Nadine is a committed concert recitalist and has performed Strauss’ Four Last Songs with Plymouth Symphony Orchestra conducted by Anne Kimber and with Dartington Festival Orchestra conducted by Diego Masson. She has also performed the European première of John Harbison’s Milosz Songs at the Second London Festival of American Music. Nadine was honoured to join the American Festival again in 2010 to perform song cycles by Libby Larsen, Previn and Copland with pianist Tomasz Lis. Nadine is continuing her work with Tomasz LIs and has recorded song cycles by Previn, Copland and Harbison at Henry Wood Hall. Future performances of these works will be on 23rd November 2011 at The Chambers in Manchester as part of the Sallow Tree concerts.
This year, Nadine has been involved in an exciting collaboration wtih Yinka Shonibare MBE in a film piece as part of his new installation which will be premièred in New York in 2012.
In March 2012, Nadine will sing the role of Cio Cio San with St Albans Chamber Opera in their production of Puccini’s Madama Butterfly.