Martin-Jan Nijhof

Since 2016, Dutch bass-baritone Martin-Jan Nijhof has been a permanent member of the ensemble at the Semperoper Dresden. His repertoire at the house includes Figaro and Bartolo (Le nozze di Figaro), Escamillo (Carmen), Colline (La bohème), Don Alfonso (Così fan tutte), Angelotti (Tosca), Truffaldin (Ariadne auf Naxos), Sprecher (Die Zauberflöte), Surin (The Queen of Spades), and the Doctor in Shostakovich’s The Nose. He has worked under conductors such as Christian Thielemann, Omer Meir Wellber, Christoph Gedschold, Mikhail Tatarnikov, Evelino Pidò, Leonardo Sini, Giedrė Šlekytė, Evan Rogister, Gaetano d’Espinosa, John Fiore, Petr Popelka, and Giampaolo Bisanti.

Mr. Nijhof has appeared in numerous audio and video recordings, including Il tabarro with the Dresden Philharmonic under Marek Janowski, La bohème, Rigoletto, La traviata, and Tosca with the NDR Radiophilharmonie Hannover led by Keri-Lynn Wilson, La fanciulla del West with the Transylvania State Philharmonic under Lawrence Foster, and Don Giovanni with the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra conducted by David Stern.

Equally active on the concert stage, Mr. Nijhof’s repertoire includes the bass solos in Bach’s St. Matthew Passion, St. John Passion, and Christmas Oratorio; Rossini’s and Dvořák’s Stabat Mater; Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony; Brahms’ Ein deutsches Requiem and Vier ernste Gesänge; Mendelssohn’s Elias; and Mahler’s Kindertotenlieder.

Born in Ravenstein, the Netherlands, Mr. Nijhof studied at the Maastricht Conservatory with Barbara Schlick and completed postgraduate studies at the State University of Music in Freiburg im Breisgau with Reginaldo Pinheiro. He continues to work closely with bass Jaakko Ryhänen.

Before joining the Semperoper Dresden, he held ensemble positions at the Landestheater Niederbayern, Theater Regensburg, and Theater Magdeburg. During this period, he appeared in roles such as Kaspar (Der Freischütz), Wozzeck, Don Giovanni and Leporello (Don Giovanni), Daland (Der fliegende Holländer), Sarastro (Die Zauberflöte), Raimondo (Lucia di Lammermoor), Orest (Elektra), the Bonze (Madama Butterfly), Timur (Turandot), and Bottom (A Midsummer Night’s Dream).