Dr. Nicholas Kilkenny is a bass-baritone and voice professor located in the Western New York area. Recent engagements include Renato in Un ballo in Maschera and Dulcamara in L’elisir d’amore with Buffalo Opera Unlimited, Bartolo in Le nozze di Figaro with Geneva Light Opera, and Raimondo in Lucia di Lammermoor with Hudson Opera Theater.

 

Being a versatile performer, Nicholas has performed operas of all time eras and styles around the northeast region of the United States. His roles include Guglielmo in Così fan tutte and Méphistophélès in Faust with Buffalo Opera Unlimited, il sagrestano in Tosca, Notary in Don Pasquale and King Balthazar and the Page in Amahl and the Night Visitors with Nickel City Opera, Betto in Gianni Schicchi, Figaro (cover) and Antonio in Le nozze di Figaro, Basilio (cover) and Fiorello in Il barbiere di Siviglia, and Foreman in Trial by Jury with Hubbard Hall Opera Theater, as well as Bartolo in Le nozze di Figaro, Elviro in Serse, Second Commissioner in Dialogues of the Carmelites, and Olsen in Street Scene with Eastman Opera Theater. In May 2014, Nicholas made his Carnegie Hall debut singing the role of Jewel Scrooby in Howard Hanson’s Merry Mount with the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra.

​

Following his passion for new music, Nicholas has premiered many roles in new operas, including Lino in the orchestral premiere of John Musto's Bastianello with Rochester Lyric Opera, Judge in Darryl Glenn Nettles' The Fall of Stag Lee, Katis in Cary Ratcliff's opera Eleni, along with others.

 

As a concert soloist, he has performed with the Buffalo Philharmonic Chorus, Eastman School Symphony Orchestra, Olean Chamber Music Society, Eastman Wind Ensemble, Orchard Park Chorale, First Presbyterian Church of East Aurora, Eastman Chorale, Genesee Valley Orchestra, and Buffalo State Philharmonia. His concert repertoire includes Handel’s Messiah, Dvorák' Te Deum, Mendelssohn’s Elijah, Bach’s Magnificat, Christmas Oratorio, and St. Matthew Passion, the Mozart, Fauré, Duruflé, and Brahms Requiems, Schubert’s Mass in G and Stabat Mater, Haydn’s Lord Nelson Mass and Paukenmesse, Scarlatti’s Il primo omicidio, Vaughan Williams’s Dona Nobis Pacem and Five Mystical Songs, and Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms. He has also performed recitals in Western New York, Long Island, and Cheshire, United Kingdom.

 

Nicholas earned his Doctor of Musical Arts and Master of Music degrees from the Eastman School of Music and Bachelor of Music Education degree from SUNY Buffalo State College. He is currently on faculty as a lecturer of applied voice and vocal literature at Nazareth University. Nicholas is represented by Wade Artist Management.