Tenor Nick Kirkup has a diverse performance history in choral and operatic repertoire, including roles for Queensland Conservatorium Griffith University Opera Studio and University of Southern Queensland Opera Studio. In 2010 he was awarded the prestigious Joyce Campbell Lloyd Scholarship, which allowed him to undertake further study at Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London.

On the concert stage, Nick has performed as a tenor soloist with many of southeast Queensland’s major choral societies. As part of the 2023 Palm Sunday celebrations at All Saints’ Anglican Church in Brisbane, Nick appeared as the tenor soloist in their performance of Handel’s Messiah. Other concert engagements include the role of Evangelist in Canticum’s performance of Bach’s Christmas Oratorio (2020), tenor soloist for the Canticum and Brisbane Chorale performance of Handel’s Israel in Egypt (2019), and tenor soloist for the state tour of Handel’s Messiah with Queensland Symphony Orchestra (2016).

For Opera Queensland, Nick has appeared in numerous productions with Opera Queensland’s Chorus since 2016. A regular facilitator and singer for Opera Queensland’s Learning Regional and Community programs, he has performed in concerts and participated in workshops in far-ranging Queensland locations and events including the Muttaburra Stock Show and in Cairns as part of the Home Grown Opera project (both in 2022), and in Cunnamulla (2018) and Childers (2016 and 2019).

Nick’s recent solo roles for Opera Queensland include Giuseppe in La traviata (2022) and tenor soloist in Songs of Love and War (2021), as well as understudying Don Basilio/Don Curzio in Le nozze di Figaro (2021), Spoletta in Tosca (2019), and Reverend Horace Adams in Peter Grimes (in association with Brisbane Festival, 2018).

As an Opera Queensland 2023 Young Artist, Nick understudied the role of Malcolm and performed in the Opera Queensland Chorus, both for Macbeth at QPAC’s Concert Hall in March. He recently travelled to Cunnamulla in April to take part in the inaugural Outback River Lights Festival, and in May will feature in community concerts, workshops and activities at regional centres including Tambo, Winton and Longreach during this year’s Festival of Outback Opera.