Since 2016, bass-baritone Martin-Jan Nijhof has been a permanent member of the Semperoper Dresden ensemble. He can be heard in roles such as Figaro and Bartolo in Le nozze di Figaro, Escamillo in Carmen, Colline in La Bohème, Don Alfonso in Così fan tutte, Angelotti in Tosca, Truffaldin in Ariadne, Sprecher in The Magic Flute, Surin in Queen of Spades and Doctor in Shostakovich’s Nose. Martin-Jan has worked with conductors such as Christian Thielemann, Omer Meir Wellber, Christoph Gedschold, Mikhail Tatarnikov, Evelino Pidò, Leonardo Sini, Giedre Slekyte, Evan Rogister, Gaetano d’Espinosa, John Fiore, Petr Popelka and Giampaolo Bisanti.

As a bass-baritone soloist, Martin-Jan has participated in numerous CD, DVD and television recordings: the Dresden Philharmonic, under the direction of Marek Janowski in Il Tabarro, the NDR Broadcasting Orchestra Hannover, by Keri-Linn Wilson in La Bohème, Rigoletto, Traviata and Tosca, the Transylvania State Philharmonic Orchestra by Lawrence Forster in La Fanciulla del West, and the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra, by David Stern in Don Giovanni.

In addition to stage work, Martin-Jan enjoys performing concerts. His repertoire includes the bass parts in Bach’s Matthäus and Johannes Passion, Christmas Oratorio, Rossini’s and Dvorak’s Stabat Mater, Beethoven’s 9th Symphony, Brahms’ A German Requiem, Mendelssohn’s Elias as well as Mahler’s Kindertotenlieder and Brahms’ Four Serious Songs with orchestra.

Born in Ravenstein, the Netherlands, Martin-Jan studied at the Maastricht Conservatory with Barbara Schlick and completed his postgraduate studies at the State University of Music in Freiburg i.B. with Prof. Reginaldo Pinheiro. An important companion to him on his vocal and musical path at the moment is bass Prof. Dr. Jaakko Ryhanen. After his studies, he got permanent engagements at theaters in Passau, Regensburg and Magdeburg. Martin-Jan has played roles such as Kaspar in Der Freischütz, Wozzeck by Alban Berg, Don Giovanni as well as Leporello in Mozart’s Don Giovanni, Daland in The Flying Dutchman, Sarastro in The Magic Flute, Raimondo in Lucia di Lammermoor, Orest in Elektra, Bonze in Madame Butterfly, Timur in Turandot and Bottom in A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

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Martin-Jan Nijhof is represented by ArteMIS worldwide.