“It was such a rare and beautiful experience to hear countertenor Nicholas Burns perform. His clear vocal tones awoke the entire Baroque glamour of Handel’s composition.”
“A thrilling voice, soothing to the ear with its velvety timbre.”
These are just some of the reviews of young countertenor Nicholas Burns’ performances.
As the winner of the Canadian contest “Young opera ambassadors” 2023, along with the “Young opera hope of Canada” award, Nicholas Burns also received an offer by acad. Plamen Kartaloff to perform at the Sofia Opera and Ballet during the current season.
On the 6th of February, Canadian countertenor Nicholas Burns will hold a recital at the Sofia Opera Chamber hall, under the accompaniment of a chamber orchestra. Arias and instrumental plays by Johan Sebastian Bach, Henri Purcell, Alessandro Scarlatti and Georg Friedrich Handel will be performed.
On the 9th of February, at the Sofia Opera Big hall, the stage cantata “Carmina Burana” by Carl Orff will be performed, production by Fredy Franzutti. With the participation of the Sofia Opera orchestra, choir and ballet, the BNR children’s choir, singers Stanislava Momekova (soprano), Nicholas Burns (countertenor), Ventseslav Anastasov (baritone), lead ballet dancers Pamela Pandova-Baneva, Christina Chochanova, Kristian Manev, Tomas Ferreira, Mina-Vasilia Stoyanova, Emil Yordanov, Alexandar Alexandrov, Georgi Banchev, Matthew Whittle and Francesco Congiusti. Conductor: Igor Bogdanov; choir conductor: Violeta Dimitrova; children’s radio choir conductor: Mihaela Koteva.
Nicholas Burns won the New York oratorial society contest which took place at Carnegie Hall in 2023. He has won award from the “Young opera ambassadors” contest in 2023, the International music contest in Vancouver and the “Rumbold” Vocal award of the Edmonton opera. On stage, he has performed main roles in many operas by Georg Friedrich Handel: Julius Caesar, Bertarido in “Rodelinda”, Polinesso in “Ariodante” and Lichas in “Hercules”. He took part in the world premiere of the opera “The Orange Tree Forest” by the French composer Zad Moultaka in 2021, in Montreal.
During the current season, along with his debut in Sofia, the young singer performed as a lead singer for the first time with the Toronto Symphonic orchestra in “Messiah” by Handel; he also has upcoming recitals at the “San Miguel de Alende” opera in Mexico as well as with the “Harmony of the Seasons” ensemble.
Besides singing, Nicholas Burns also learned to play the bagpipes in his youth and won the world bagpipes orchestra championship in 2012.