Ema Nikolovska & Howard Watkins

Possessing a rare combination of artistic sensitivity and technical skill and with an impressive array of honors already in hand, the young mezzo-soprano Ema Nikolovska is on the rise and in demand in both international opera houses and concert halls. Nikolovska is a BBC New Generation Artist, a recent honoree of the prestigious Borletti-Buitoni Trust, and an acclaimed performer for the International Opera Studio at the Berlin Staatsoper Unter den Linden. Classical Source lauded her “beautiful, versatile and technically assured instrument,” and the Telegraph, London, praised her tone as “agile and pearly but with an underlying richness and robustness.” Born in North Macedonia, raised in Toronto, and based in Europe, Nikolovska visits with a program featuring songs by Schubert, Schumann, and Debussy in her Cal Performances debut.