“Fearless and inimitable, Ema Nikolovska opened her artistic world and invited everyone in.” – Ludwig van Toronto
Mezzo-Soprano, Ema Nikolovska is a star on recital and opera stages around the world. In the 2025/26 season, she made three milestone role debuts: as Niklausse in Lydia Steier’s new production of Les Contes d’Hoffmann at the Deutsche Staatsoper Berlin, as Cherubino in Le nozze di Figaro at Opernhaus Zürich and in the title role of Olga Neuwirth’s Orlando at Komische Oper Berlin. An internationally celebrated recitalist, she has partnered with Martha Argerich, András Schiff, and Charles Richard-Hamelin.
Born in North Macedonia, Nikolovska grew up in Toronto where she studied violin at The Glenn Gould School before studying voice with Helga Tucker. She received her Master’s in Voice at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama in London, where she also completed the Opera Course. Ema was a BBC New Generation Artist from 2019-2022. In 2019 she won several prizes at major competitions and in 2022 she became a recipient of the Borletti-Buitoni Trust award.
Learn more: Ema Nikolovska
“Shibe sustains a world of intensity and introspection through playing that buzzes with vitality” – The Guardian
Scottish guitarist Sean Shibe has proven himself a truly original mind at the frontier of contemporary classical music.
Recent engagements include solo performances at the Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Philharmonie de Paris, and Wigmore Hall. Ever keen to explore new cooperative dynamics, Shibe regularly collaborates with soloists and ensembles alike. Shibe is an ardent supporter of contemporary music, taking a hands-on approach to new commissions and working with composers to experiment with and expand the guitar repertoire.
Born in Edinburgh in 1992, Shibe studied at Royal Conservatoire of Scotland under Allan Neave, and furthered his studies at Kunst-Universität Graz in Austria and in Italy under Paolo Pegoraro. He is now a Guitar Professor at Guildhall School of Music and Drama.
Shibe is a former BBC New Generation Artist, a Borletti-Buitoni Trust Fellowship 2012 winner, a Royal Philharmonic Society 2018 Young Artist Award winner, a multi-GRAMMY nominee, and the recipient of the 2022 Leonard Bernstein Award.
Learn more: Sean Shibe
PROGRAM
Orlando – The Eternal Adventurer
In a highly original program for mezzo-soprano and guitar, Ema Nikolovska and Sean Shibe trace the legendary troubadour’s story through space and time. Journeying from the medieval Chanson de Roland to Ariosto’s famous epic, to Virginia Woolf ’s 1928 novel, they explore fantastical worlds and encounter the great adventures of life: love, conflict, and the search for one’s own identity.
Works by Franz Schubert, Detlef Glanert, Thomas Adès and others, as well as newly commissioned pieces by Sasha Scott and Cassandra Miller provide the musical tapestry.
