Song recital with Ema Nikolovska, soprano & Hikaru Kanki, piano

Aaron Copland
Twelve Poems of Emily Dickinson (selection)

Franz Schubert
Autumn D. 945
Resolution D. 807

Sergei Prokofiev
Five Songs without Words Op. 35 (selection)

Franz Schubert
Transfiguration D. 59
The Unhappy Man D. 713
Night and Dreams D. 827

Olivier Messiaen
Vocalise-Étude

Franz Schubert
The Rose D. 745
Mother Earth D. 788

Near Sol
Apperceptive Algorithms

as well as selected songs by Priaulx Rainier, Emily Doolittle, George Crumb, and Héloïse Werner

Born in North Macedonia, mezzo-soprano Ema Nikolovska grew up in Toronto, where she studied violin at the Glenn Gould School and then voice with Helga Tucker. She received her Master's degree in Vocal Performance from the Guildhall School of Music & Drama in London, where she also completed the Opera Course. Ema was a BBC New Generation Artist from 2019 to 2022. In 2019, she won first prize at the 's-Hertogenbosch International Vocal Competition, the Ferrier Loveday Song Prize (Kathleen Ferrier Awards), and was a prizewinner of the Young Classical Artists Trust (YCAT) International Auditions. In 2022, she received the prestigious Borletti-Buitoni Trust Award.

In the 2024/25 season, Ema will once again take on the leading role of the Frau in George Benjamin's Picture a Day Like This at the Opéra du Rhin in Strasbourg, having made her debut in this role at the Linbury Theatre of the Royal Opera House last season. Following her magnificent role debut as Octavian in Der Rosenkavalier at the Deutsche Staatsoper Berlin in 2023, as a graduate of its opera studio, she returns this season as Stéfano Rome et Juliette. Her previous theatre roles include Lucile in Henze's Cubana, Christian Jost's Die Arabische Nacht, Second Lady in Die Zauberflöte, Shepherdess Jenůfa, Giovanna Rigoletto, and Diane in Rameau's Hippolyte et Aricie under the baton of Sir Simon Rattle.

Last season, she also made her debut with the Canadian Opera Company as Fox in Janáček's The Cunning Little Vixen. Her prestigious concert performances have included Stravinsky's Les Noces with the Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal and Kent Nagano, Vivier's Where You Are, Light with the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France and Barbara Hannigan, Scriabin's Symphony No. 1 with the Danish National Symphony Orchestra and Fabio Luisi, Mozart's Mass in C minor with the Munich Philharmonic, and Mendelssohn's Elijah on tour with Pygmalion, both with Raphaël .

His previous concert appearances include Mozart's Coronation Mass with the Mozarteum Orchestra Salzburg and Roberto González-Monjas at the Salzburg Festival, Schumann's Das Paradies und die Peri and Mozart's Requiem with the Staatskapelle Berlin and Marc Minkowski, Jaquet de la Guerre's Céphale et Procris on tour with Reinoud van Mechelen and Nocte Temporis in Versailles, Namur and Brussels, Mendelssohn's Elijah with the Munich Radio Orchestra and Howard Arman, Mozart's Requiem with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and Adrian Partington, Stravinsky's Pulcinella with the Musikkollegium Winterthur and Barbara Hannigan and Ravel's Chansons Madecasses with the Mahler Chamber Orchestra and George Benjamin.

Hikaru Kanki is a Japanese pianist. She has performed in prestigious venues such as Carnegie Hall, Wigmore Hall, and the Semperoper Dresden, as well as at festivals such as the Hitzacker Summer Music Festival, LIEDBasel, and the Pacific Music Festival. Her first CD with Arvid Fagerfjäll was released in June 2025 by ARS Production.

A prizewinner of numerous competitions, she won first prize at the International Piano Competition "Lia Tortora" and, together with baritone Arvid Fagerfjäll, at the International LiedDuo Competition IVC 's-Hertogenbosch. She has also received numerous awards as best pianist, including at the Wigmore Hall/Bollinger International Song Competition, IVC, and the International Helmut Deutsch Lied Competition.

She currently teaches at the Hanover University of Music, Drama, and Media (HMTMH). She recently completed her work as a Dorothea Erxleben Fellow at the HMTMH, where she taught song interpretation and developed artistic projects focusing on contemporary song, including a commission from composer Aya Yoshida and a project with songs from China, Korea and Japan.