Kaylee niChols
mezzo
Hailed by the press as “a gifted performer” and “a treat to savor,” Kaylee Nichols, mezzo-soprano, was recently seen as Flora in La traviata at The Santa Fe Opera where she was a recipient of the Award of Excellence. She also covered the role of Michele in The Righteous by Gregory Spears and Tracy K. Smith after workshopping the role with Opera Fusion: New Works. This season, Kaylee will debut with Cincinnati Opera as Giovanna in Rigoletto, debut with Queen City Opera as Laura in Iolanta, and premiere the role of Hannah in Forward Into Light by Stephen Variames and Kathleen Stakenas. In 2026, she will debut with Cincinnati Song Initiative as the soloist for Jake Heggie’s Camille Claudel: Into the Fire with the Red Door String Quartet.
In the 2023-2024 season, Kaylee debuted with rave reviews as the Kitchen Boy in Rusalka at The Santa Fe Opera. She also returned to Nashville Opera as Mrs. Nolan in The Medium. She also debuted with Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra as the Alto Soloist in Handel’s Messiah and with Kentucky Opera for a same day jump-in performance of the Mother in Amahl and the Night Visitors..
In 2021-2022, Ms. Nichols made her debut with the Springfield Symphony as the Alto Soloist in their Mozart Requiem. As a member of the Bonfils-Stanton Artist Training Program at Central City Opera, she covered the title role in Dido and Aeneas and appeared as Giovanna in the family performance of Rigoletto. She also appeared with Nashville Opera to reprise her role as Maddalena in Rigoletto, and with Sarasota Opera as an Apprentice Artist.
During the 2019-2020 season, she made role debuts as Mercedes in Carmen with Chattanooga Symphony & Opera and Maddalena in Rigoletto with Opera Project Columbus. She also joined Nashville Opera as a member of the Mary Ragland Emerging Artist Program. During her residency, Ms. Nichols appeared as the Mother in Amahl and the Night Visitors, Angie in Pepito, and Mrs. Grose in Turn of the Screw. In the summer of 2020, Kaylee was accepted as an Active Participant in the Dandelion Opera Institute, an intensive online training program.
In the 2018 season, Ms. Nichols made role and house debuts such as Tisbe & Angelina (c) in La Cenerentola with Opera Project Columbus and Nashville Opera as Flora in La Traviata . In the concert realm, Ms. Nichols debuted with Butler Philharmonic Orchestra as the Mezzo-Soprano soloist in Mozart’s Mass in C minor and Handel's Messiah.
In the 2017 season, Ms. Nichols returned to Nightingale Opera Theatre to sing the role of Vera Boronel and the Secretary in The Consul and the Monitor in Suor Angelica with Opera Project Columbus. She also appeared as Zerlina in #UncleJohn with Opera Columbus: Opera on the Edge Series, and debuted with the New Albany Symphony in their Holiday Spectacular.
Ms. Nichols made her debuts with Opera Columbus in Twisted2, Nightingale Opera Theatre leading the young artist cast as Jo March in Little Women, and Opera Project Columbus as La Madre di Mariuccia in Nino Rota's I due Timidi. Also in 2016, Ms. Nichols sang with Great Lakes Light Opera in the One World Day Festival.
Ms. Nichols concert experience includes Mozart Mass in C minor, Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater, Haydn’s Missa Brevis in F, Ceremony of Carols by Benjamin Brittan, Chichester Psalms by Leonard Bernstein, and various recordings for Chorister’s Guild.
