From: Los Angeles, California. LA Opera: Miranda in Journey to Córdoba (1995, debut at age 15), Lauretta in Gianni Schicchi (2002); title role in Eurydice (2020).

Danielle de Niese has been hailed as “opera’s coolest soprano” by the New York Times Magazine. A multi-faceted artist, de Niese has gained wide recognition for her superb stagecraft, assured singing and her ability to communicate on every level. She regularly appears on the world’s most prestigious opera and concert stages and is a prolific recording artist, TV personality and philanthropist.

In the 2018/19 season, de Niese made a highly anticipated return to Lyric Opera of Chicago, following her triumphant Roxane Coss in the world premiere of Bel Canto, to sing Musetta in La Bohème in Richard Jones’ acclaimed production, a role for which she garnered huge acclaim at Royal Opera House, Covent Garden: “She is magnificent. Her voice is an incredibly powerful instrument, riding over the orchestra with shattering high notes. Her “Quando m’en vo” was unforgettable, sensual, flirtatious and beautifully even of tone” (Opera Today). She starred as Norina in Laurent Pelly’s production of Don Pasquale at La Monnaie and made her role debut as Cendrillon at Glyndebourne in a new production by Fiona Shaw. On the recital platform she was heard at the Cheltenham Festival in their 75th anniversary season.

In the 2019/20 season, de Niese returns home to Los Angeles, where she made her operatic debut at the age of 15 to sing the title role in the world premiere of Matthew Aucoin highly anticipated new opera Eurydice as well as making a hugely exciting role debut as Blanche in Barrie Kosky’s new production of Dialogues des Carmélites at Glyndebourne. She also returns to Japan in one of her signature roles as Norina in Don Pasquale at the New National Theatre Tokyo.

Last season de Niese made a sensational debut as Hanna Glawari with Opera Australia in a new production of The Merry Widow, first presented in Melbourne and reopening in Sydney with a gala performance on New Year’s Eve. She also returned to Royal Opera House where she sang her first Musetta to huge public and critical acclaim and to Wiener Staatsoper as Norina in Don Pasquale. On the concert platform she appeared as Eileen in Bernstein's Wonderful Town with Sir Simon Rattle and the London Symphony Orchestra, a performance slated for CD release in September 2018 as well as making hugely successful solo tours in the Middle East and in Asia. She also returned to Dublin to perform an opera gala with the RTE National Symphony Orchestra and headlined the BBC Biggest Weekend at Scone Palace in Perth. De Niese also curated a chamber music evening, part of the reopening of the Queen Elisabeth Hall at the Southbank Centre where together with her guests Menahem Pressler, Sir James Galway, Mark Simpson and the Navarra String Quartet she performed music by Roussel, Schubert and Chausson.

Recent highlights include a double header for the BBC Proms, singing at the Last Night of the Proms at the Royal Albert Hall opposite Jonas Kaufmann, broadcast worldwide, and at Proms in the Park in Hyde Park as well as appearances at the Ravinia Festival in Chicago and gala concerts with the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra and in St Petersburg at ‘Classics at the Palace Square’. Audiences in the UK have heard her in recital with Julius Drake at the Barbican, the Snape Proms and at the Birmingham Conservatoire as part of the Celebrity Recital Series. Her operatic engagements included the world premiere of Jimmy López’s Bel Canto at Lyric Opera of Chicago conducted by Sir Andrew Davis, her role debut as Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni with Semperoper Dresden, Norina in Don Pasquale in her company debut with Wiener Staatsoper, Adina in L’elisir d'amore at the Opera national du Rhin, Rodelinda and Poppea in Agrippina at Theater an der Wien and the new production of The Barber of Seville as Rosina at the Glyndebourne Festival and BBC Proms. Further operatic appearances include Concepción in L’heure espagnole and L’Enfant in L’Enfant et les Sortilèges, Norina in Don Pasquale, Adina in L’Elisir d’amore at Glyndebourne Festival Opera; Susanna in The Marriage of Figaro, Ariel in The Enchanted Island, and Despina in Così fan tutte, all at the Metropolitan Opera in New York; the title role of L'incoronazione di Poppea at Teatro Real Madrid; Partenope and Susanna in The Marriage of Figaro at San Francisco Opera; the title role of Semele at Theâtre des Champs-Elysees; the title role of La Calisto at Bayerische Staatsoper; and Poppea in Agrippina at Gran Teatre del Liceu Barcelona.

Born in Australia to parents of Sri Lankan and Dutch heritage, de Niese, became at the age of 18, the youngest ever singer to enter the Metropolitan Opera’s prestigious Lindemann Young Artist Development Program. One year later she made her Metropolitan Opera debut under James Levine, as Barbarina in Jonathan Miller’s acclaimed new production of The Marriage of Figaro. On the strength of her performance, de Niese went on to make major debuts at the Opéra National de Paris, Saito Kinen Festival and Netherlands Opera. In 2005 de Niese made her Glyndebourne Festival debut as Cleopatra in Sir David McVicar’s production of Handel’s Giulio Cesare and was catapulted to international fame. She has since reprised the role in the 2009 Glyndebourne revival, and in 2013 at the Metropolitan Opera, always to critical praise.

A prolific recording artist, her debut recording for Decca, Handel Arias, was awarded the prestigious Orphée d'Or from and the much-coveted ECHO Klassik award, as well as earning her a Classical Brit Award nomination for Female Artist of the Year. The Mozart Album, Diva, and Beauty of the Baroque followed.

A TV and media personality, De Niese won her first Emmy at the age of 16, when hosting a weekly arts showcase for teenagers at a Los Angeles local television. Her many TV appearances received widespread attention whilst her BBC documentaries such as Diva Diaries, The Birth of an Opera and the most recent and highly praised Unsung Heroines attest her extraordinary passion for the art form she represents and tireless commitment to bringing new audiences to it.

Offstage, de Niese is an advocate for children’s rights and a passionate philanthropist and has been named by Marie Claire magazine on its influential list of “Women on Top”. She is an Ambassador for HRH The Prince of Wales’ Foundation for Children and the Arts, a patron of Future Talent, which assists young musicians and singers with financial support and guidance and is an Artist Member of the Mannes Board of Governors. For the past year, de Niese has also been serving as an official Ambassador Voice for the International Rescue Committee.