Abigail Nims

Mezzo-soprano Abigail Nims is regarded as a musician of integrity and versatility for her performances of repertoire spanning from Monteverdi, Bach, and Mozart to Crumb, Ligeti and premieres of contemporary works.

Particularly praised for her expressive interpretations and tonal beauty in the concert repertoire, her career has included performances as soloist in Stravinsky’s Pulcinella, Haydn’s Harmoniemesse, and Crumb’s Night of the Four Moons with the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra; Bach’s St. John Passion with the Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional de Mexico, the Louisiana Philharmonic, and the Colorado Bach Ensemble; Bach’s Mass in B minor with the San Francisco Symphony, the Colorado Bach Ensemble, and the Boulder Bach Festival; Bach’s Magnificat with the São Paulo Symphony; Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 with the Detroit Symphony, the Indianapolis Symphony, the Huntsville Symphony, the Colorado Springs Philharmonic, Eugene Symphony, and Santa Rosa Symphony; Beethoven's Mass in C and Choral Fantasy with the San Francisco Symphony; Handel's Messiah with the Portland Baroque Orchestra, the Baltimore Symphony, Virginia Symphony, Phoenix Symphony, Tucson Symphony, Naples Philharmonic, Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra, Colorado Bach Ensemble, and the Boulder Philharmonic; Mozart's Requiem with the Colorado Symphony, ProMusica Chamber Orchestra (OH), the Quad Cities Symphony, the Midland-Odessa Symphony, and the Denver Philharmonic; Dvorák’s Stabat Mater with the Bach Festival Society of Winter Park; Mozart's Mass in C Minor with the Huntsville Symphony; de Falla’s Three Cornered Hat and Mendelssohn’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream with the Colorado Music Festival; Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 with Teatro Municipal (Chile) and the Duluth Superior Symphony; Mahler’s Symphony No. 3 with Augusta Symphony; Bach's Christmas Oratorio with the Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra; Bach's St. Matthew Passion with the Shreveport Symphony and the Boulder Philharmonic; Mahler’s Rückert Lieder with the Colorado MahlerFest; Berlioz’s Les Nuits d’été with the Adrian Symphony Orchestra; George Benjamin’s Upon Silence and Vivaldi’s Stabat Mater with the New England String Ensemble; and Brahms’ Liebeslieder Walzer at the Norfolk Chamber Music Festival. Ms. Nims frequently performs in recital at the University of Colorado-Boulder. Additionally, she has presented recitals at Trinity Church, Wall Street; Wexford Festival Opera; on Kaleidoscope Chamber Orchestra’s Concert Series, and as guest alumna at Ohio Wesleyan University.

Highlights of Ms. Nims’ opera career include Veruca Salt in Peter Ash’s The Golden Ticket at the Wexford Opera Festival and Atlanta Opera; Melanto in Monteverdi’s Il ritorno d’Ulisse in patria with Boston Baroque; Lazuli in L’Étoile with New York City Opera; Despina in Così fan tutte with Palm Beach Opera and Opera Grand Rapids; Taller Zegner Sister in Mazzoli and Vavrek's Proving Up with Omaha Opera and NYC's Miller Theatre; Nancy in Albert Herring with Florentine Opera; Prince Orlofsky in Die Fledermaus with Virginia Opera; Zerlina in Don Giovanni with Opera New Jersey and Opera Grand Rapids; Zefka in “Scenes of Gypsy Life” (Janácek/Dvorák) with New York’s Gotham Chamber Opera; Milena in the world premiere of Martin Bresnick’s My Friend’s Story at the International Festival of Arts and Ideas; Hermia in A Midsummer Night’s Dream with the Princeton Festival; Dinah in Trouble in Tahiti with Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano Giuseppe Verdi; Meg in Little Women and Cherubino in Le nozze di Figaro with Opera Delaware; and Tessa in The Gondoliers with Opera North.

Ms. Nims has performed as soloist under renowned conductors including Michael Tilson Thomas, Leonard Slatkin, Roberto Abbado, John Butt, Gary Wedow, Martin Pearlman Carlos Miguel Prieto, Thomas Zehetmair, Giuseppe Grazioli, and JoAnn Falletta. Her recordings include the role of Taller Zegner Sister in Missy Mazzoli and Ross Vavrek's Proving Up with the International Contemporary Ensemble (Pentatone, 2020); Melanto in Monteverdi's Il ritorno d’Ulisse in patria on the Grammy-nominated Boston Baroque recording (Linn Records, 2015); Veruca Salt in Peter Ash’s The Golden Ticket (Albany Records, 2012); and Martin Bresnick’s song cycle “Falling,” featured on the composer’s compilation album Every Thing Must Go (Albany Records, 2010).

Ms. Nims is a member of the voice faculty at the University of Colorado-Boulder. She has received awards from the Fritz and Lavinia Jensen Foundation Competition, Santa Fe Opera, the Carmel Bach Festival, the American Bach Society/Bach Choir of Bethlehem Competition, and Yale School of Music. Originally from Delaware, Ohio, she holds degrees from Yale School of Music, Westminster Choir College, and Ohio Wesleyan University.

August 21, 2020: Abigail Nims Releases Album, ‘Missy Mazzoli: Proving Up’
- Spotify

Febuary 10, 2016: Abigail Nims Performs Grammy-Nominated Recording, ‘Il ritorno d'Ulisse in patria’
- University of Colorado Boulder

CHORALE, SINGERS CREATE BEAUTIFUL HARMONY WITH ORCHESTRA
The Lancaster Chorale, given a workout throughout the piece, was never less than assured in occupying the same sonic space as the orchestra and soloists. Among the individual singers, mezzo-soprano Nims, with her refined, lilting tone, was particularly impressive.
– Peter Tonguette, The Columbus Dispatch

‘PETER GRIMES’ A HIGH-WATER MARK
“Equally superb dramatic and vocal contributions are made by mezzo Ann Murray, as Auntie, the owner of the local pub; soprano Nikki Einfeld and mezzo Abigail Nims as her precocious nieces.”
– David Wiegand, San Francisco Chronicle

ASO, SOLOIST BEAUTIFULLY PERFORM BEETHOVEN, BERLIOZ AT CROSWELL
“Nims gave a first-rate interpretation of every one of the songs in the cycle, demonstrating a depth of connection with the music that was quite remarkable. This was the first time she had performed this work in concert, but it was very obvious that she had thought long and hard beforehand about the meaning of the poetry itself. At the same time, she more than proved herself to be a singer of considerable talent, with superb control and vocal range, and sang the French-language lyrics beautifully and clearly.”
– Arlene Bachanov, Daily Telegram

Orchestral Repertoire
Adams
El Niño

Argento
Casa Guidi

J.C.F. Bach
Ach, dass ich Wassers g’nug hätte

J.S. Bach
Cantatas
Christmas Oratorio
Magnificat
Mass in B-minor
St. John Passion
St. Matthew Passion

Benjamin
Upon Silence

Berg
Seven Early Songs

Berlioz
La damnation de Faust
Les nuits d’été

Brahms
Liebeslieder Walzer
Zwei Gesange, Op. 91

Bridge
Three Songs for Voice, Viola, and Piano

Britten
Phaedra

Chausson
Chanson Perpétuelle

Crumb
Night of the Four Moons

Duruflé
Requiem

Faure
La Bonne Chanson

Handel
Cantata Lucrezia
Hercules
Messiah
Theodora

Harbison
Mirabai Songs
North and South

F.J. Haydn
Arianna a Naxos
Harmoniemesse
Lord Nelson Mass

J.M. Haydn
Requiem

Lieberson
Neruda Songs

Ligeti
Sippal, dobbal, nádihegedüvel

Loeffler
Quatre Poèmes

Mahler
Des Knaben Wunderhorn
Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen
Rückert Lieder
Symphony No. 2
Symphony No. 3

Mendelssohn
Elijah

Mozart
Coronation Mass
Mass in C-minor
Requiem
Vesperae solennes de confessore

Ravel
Chansons madécasses
Shéhérezade
Trois Poèmes de Stéphane Mallarmé

Respighi
Il Tramonto

Vivaldi
Gloria
Nisi Dominus
Stabat Mater

Zelenka
Magnificat

***

Opera Repertoire
Adamo
Little Women (Jo, Meg)

Ash
The Golden Ticket (Veruca Salt)

Barber
Vanessa (Erika)

Bellini
I Capuleti e i Montecchi (Roméo)

Berg
Lulu (Countess Geschwitz)

Berlioz
Béatrice et Bénédict (Béatrice)

Bernstein
Trouble in Tahiti (Dinah)

Bresnick
My Friend’s Story (Milena)

Britten
A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Hermia)
Albert Herring (Nancy)

Chabrier
L’étoile (Lazuli)

Debussy
Pelléas et Mélisande (Mélisande)

Gluck
Iphigénie en Tauride (Iphigénie)
Orfeo ed Euridice (Orfeo)

Gounod
Faust (Siébel)
Roméo et Juliette (Stephano)

Handel
Agrippina (Nerone)
Alcina (Ruggiero)
Ariodante (Ariodante)
Giulio Cesare (Sesto)
Rinaldo (Rinaldo)
Teseo (Teseo)
Xerxes (Amastre)

Humperdinck
Hänsel und Gretel (Hänsel)

Janáček
The Cunning Little Vixen (Fox)

Ligeti
Le Grand Macabre (Armando)

Massenet
Cendrillon (Cendrillon)
Werther (Charlotte)

Meyerbeer
Les Huguenots (Urbain)

Monteverdi
L’Incoronazione di Poppea (Ottavia)
Il ritorno d’Ulisse in patria (Penelope, Minerva, Melanto)

Mozart
Così fan tutte (Dorabella, Despina)
Die Zauberflöte (Third Lady)
Don Giovanni (Zerlina, Donna Elvira)
Idomeneo (Idamante)
La Clemenza di Tito (Sesto, Annio)
Le nozze di Figaro (Cherubino)

Offenbach
Les contes d’Hoffmann (Nicklausse)

Poulenc
Dialogues des Carmélites (Blanche)

Puccini
Madama Butterfly (Suzuki)

Purcell
Dido and Aeneas (Dido)

Ravel
L’Enfant et les sortilèges (L’Enfant)
L’Heure espagnole (Concepçion)

Rossini
Il barbiere di Siviglia (Rosina)
La Cenerentola (Angelina)
J. Strauss, Jr.
Die Fledermaus (Orlofsky)

R. Strauss
Ariadne auf Naxos (Komponist)
Der Rosenkavalier (Octavian)

Thomas
Mignon (Mignon)

Walton
The Bear (Popova)

*Updated November 2022