Ziad Nehme

Ziad Nehme – Tenor

Ziad Nehme was born (1984) in Tripoli, Lebanon. On leaving school he attended the Lebanese National Conservatory of Music in Beirut studying piano and voice with Arthur Satyan and Kévork Karamétélian. He subsequently completed his Masters in Opera at the Mozarteum in Salzburg where he had studied with Josef Wallnig and Boris Bakow.

On completion of his studies, Ziad Nehme became a member of the International Opera Studio of the Hamburg State Opera. Subsequently he received permanent engagements at the Stadttheater Bremerhaven, the Staatstheater Oldenburg and from 2014 to 2016 at the Nationaltheater Mannheim. There were also guest engagements at the Berlin State Opera, Hamburg State Opera, the Kiel Theater and the state theaters of Kassel, Darmstadt and Mainz. Further engagements led him to the Göteborg Konserthuset, Teatro Real Madrid, Shanghai Grand Theater, Festspielhaus Baden-Baden, the Philharmonie de Paris and the Berlin Philharmonie.

He has sung under renowned conductors including Daniel Barenboim, Valery Gergiev, Simone Young, Dan Ettinger, Kent Nagano, Alessandro De Marchi, Lorenzo Viotti, Alexander Soddy, Stefan Soltesz and Barbara Hannigan, and has worked with directors including Hans Neuenfels, Tatjana Gürbaca, Achim Freyer, Lydia Steier, Harry Kupfer, Tilman Knabe, Sasha Waltz and Markus Bothe.

The tenor's operatic repertoire includes Conte Almaviva, Ferrando, Don Ottavio, Arbace, Basilio, Alfred in "Die Fledermaus", Camille de Rosillon, Boni, Male Chorus in "The Rape of Lucretia", Swan in "Carmina Burana", Nerone in Handel's "Agrippina" and Oronte in "Alcina", Truffaldino in "The Love of Three Oranges", Marquis in Prokofiev's "Gambler" and 1st Jew in "Salome".

Recent engagements include: in 2018-19 the role of Sellem (The Rake's Progress) under Barbara Hannigan in Gothenburg with a resumption in Munich as well as the roles of the First Witch and the Sailor (Dido and Aeneas) with the Sasha Waltz Company at the Teatro Real Madrid. In addition, Ziad appeared at the Hamburg State Opera as Jaquino (Fidelio), Oronte (Alcina), Remendado (Carmen), Achille (Belle Hélène) and Trin (Fanciulla del West), and sang the role of Monostatos (The Magic Flute) at the Berlin State Opera. In 2019-20 he made guest appearances at the Berlin State Opera as 1st Jew (Salome) as well as First Witch / Sailor (Dido and Aeneas) and at the Darmstadt State Theater as Prince Sternschnuppe in the operetta "Frau Luna". Guest engagements with the Sasha Waltz Company (Dido and Aeneas) at the Ludwigsburg Festival and at the Shanghai Grand Theater had to be cancelled due to the Covid-19 lockdown. Plans for the 2020-21 season include "Salome" at the Festspielhaus Baden-Baden, Achille at the Hamburg State Opera, 1st Jew and Remandado at the Berlin State Opera and tenor soloist in "Pulcinella" at the Philharmonie de Paris.