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The German baritone and choral conductor, Manuel Nickert, began piano and music theory lessons at the age of 5. Soon after, he became a singer in the Staats- und Domchor Berlin - first as a boy soprano and alto, later as a male bass. Even before studying music, he received singing lessons from Michael Rapke and lessons in choir conducting from Professor Christian Grube. In 2014, he began studying singing with Professor Renate Faltin and Professor Thomas Quasthoff, as well as choir conducting with Professor Jörg-Peter Weigle and Matthias Stoffels at the Hochschule für Musik Hanns Eisler in Berlin. In 2019, he began his studies for Master of Arts degree in Choral Conducting at the University of Birmingham in England with Professor Simon Halsey, Julian Wilkins and Bob Chilcott, which he successfully completed in autumn 2020. He received his Master of Music degree in Singing from the Hochschule für Musik Hanns Eisler in Berlin in February 2022.
Since 2014, Manuel Nickert has worked as an assistant choir director for various choirs in Berlin, including the Sing-Akademie zu Berlin, Collegium Musicum and Staats- und Domchor Berlin, where he has held a teaching position at the Universität der Künste in the field of choir conducting since 2020. He also directed the David Chor Berlin and the chamber choir Enchore, with whom he has performed in the Kammermusiksaal der Philharmonie Berlin, among other places. In 2018 he was project choir director in the Education Department of the Berliner Philharmoniker for the “public domain” project. For several years he has been artistic director of the Camerata Lusatia, with which he regularly gives concerts of early music in Berlin and Brandenburg.
Since the beginning of his studies, Manuel Nickert has been very active as a baritone, especially as a concert singer and in the field of early music throughout Germany and Europe. He has sung several times with the Lautten Compagney Berlin (Director: Wolfgang Katschner), Neues Kammerorchester Potsdam, the Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin, Cappella Saggitariana Dresden and Les Temperamens Variations in Paris. He also has a passion for interpreting modern music: The Aventures and Nouvelles Aventures by György Ligeti with the Ensemble Ilinx at the MEHR!LICHT festival at the Universität der Künste Berlin, the world premiere of Siegfried Matthus’ Luthers Träume with the Brandenburgischen Staatsorchester Frankfurt, several world premieres in the Berliner Atonale series at the Staatsoper Berlin, or Igor Stravinsky Les Noces and Alfred Schnittke's Faust-Kantate with Cantus Domus.
Since 2018, Manuel Nickert has also been a substitute singer in the RIAS-Kammerchor Berlin (Director: Justin Doyle), Rundfunkchor Berlin (Director: Gijs Leenaars) and Zürcher Sing-Akademie (Director: Florian Helgath) and has sung with many leading conductors and orchestras.
Travels as a soloist, choir director or choir singer have taken Manuel Nickert to countries such as Spain, France, the Netherlands, Peru, Bolivia, Austria, Switzerland, Scotland, Latvia, Sweden and Italy. He currently lives in Berlin, Germany. |
