Nina Riley
Heralded as "the kind of Despina one hopes for: diminutive, agile and with just the right clear, slender soprano voice." -(NY Times) Nina Riley performed the above role from Cosi Fan Tutte with The Martina Arroyo Foundation. Other operatic roles include: La Novizia (Suor Angelica) Oscar (Un Ballo in Mashcera), Papagena (Die Zauberflöte), Lucia (The Rape of Lucretia), Mrs Hayes (Susannah), Adina (L'elisir D'amore) and Zerlina (Don Giovanni) with Chelsea Opera, The Martina Arroyo Foundation, Project Opera of Manhattan, and Opera Company of Brooklyn.
She has also been an artist with Center City Opera Theater, and Dell'Arte Opera, and will be a Resident Artist with the Opera Company of Brooklyn for the 2009- 2010 season. Nina has also performed scenes with the Minato Mirai Opera's Co-repertory workshop at the Minato Mirai Hall in Yokohama, Japan. Outreach experiences include performing the role of Fifi Alsace-Lorraine from the original production of Queen Kong, as well as the role of Hope from the Musical Theater show All That Glitters. Both of these shows were shown in Public Schools around New York city to educate children about music. She was also in a Musical Theater Cabaret show that performed in many different nursing homes in New York City.
Nina's voice can be heard on the award winning film Cherry Bloom with Ayaka Nishina on piano, directed by Alexandre Moore and produced by UVphactory. This film was shown in various renowned film festivals across the U.S. Nina has also been an advocate of new music where she has performed with the TACTUS contemporary ensemble, and has premiered compositions by Ayaka Nishina, Marc Chan, Reiko Futing, and others. She has performed with professional choirs in Avery Fisher Hall and in the Isaac Stern Auditorium at Carnegie Hall. Performances have also included various venues in Italy, including the Basilica of St Francis with the Assisi Music Festival.
Originally from Japan, Nina left home at age 16 to study voice at the Interlochen Arts Academy in Michigan for her last two years of high school. From there she moved to New York where she recieved her BM and MM at the Manhattan School of Music. Nina has been an active teacher in the New York area since 2006, and has also been a guest Artist at the Yokohama International School in Japan where she gave a master class to their Show Choir and High School Choir. She has been on faculty with Music in Chappaqua, St Brendan's Music School, and recently joined Cornerstone Music Studio in New Jersey. Nina had the honor of performing the National Anthem for the Memorial Day Parade in Chappaqua Spring 2009.
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