NICHOLAS NESTORAK
TENOR
BIOGRAPHY
Nicholas Nestorak is a tenor on the rise since joining the Metropolitan Opera roster in 2021 and making his highly anticipated Met début as Pang in their lavish production of Turandot. Also at The Met, he has covered Pang, Tanzmeister in Ariadne auf Naxos, Bardolfo in Falstaff, and Spoletta in Tosca. He returns this season as the Second Priest in the holiday presentation of The Magic Flute and covering the Waiter in Arabella.
Additional engagements last season included Goro in Madama Butterfly with Opera San Antonio and Austin Opera. Mr. Nestorak also took his acclaimed Spoletta to the Princeton Festival’s Tosca and joined Opera Maine to portray Beadle Bamford in Sweeney Todd. This season, in addition to the Met, he portrays Ralph Rackstraw in HMS Pinafore with Opera Grand Rapids. In concert, he will be heard as the tenor soloist for Stravinksy’s Pulcinella with Princeton Symphony Orchestra, as well as two rarely heard works, Dvorak's The American Flag and Orff's Trionfo di Afrodita, with Columbus Symphony.
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Mr. Nestorak has had recent success throughout the U.S. in a wide variety of repertoire, including Pedrillo in Die Entführung aus dem Serail and a different member of the Turandot trio, Pong, with Opera Grand Rapids; Prunier in La rondine with Opera on the James; Beppe in Pagliacci and Kaspar in Amahl and the Night Visitors with Opera San Antonio; Pang with Opera Delaware; Borsa in Rigoletto with Pacific Symphony; Brighella in Ariadne auf Naxos for Lakes Area Music Festival; and Count Almaviva in Il barbiere di Siviglia, Antonin Scalia in Derrick Wang’s Scalia/Ginsburg, and Monsieur Vogelsang in Der Schauspieldirektor at the Princeton Festival. He performed Goro in Madama Butterfly with Knoxville Opera and Florida Grand Opera, Monostatos in Die Zauberflöte with Toledo Opera and Opera Grand Rapids, the Witch in Hänsel und Gretel with Brava! Opera Theater, and Grant Wood in Strokes of Genius, a new work about Cedar Rapids native Grant Wood, with Cedar Rapids Opera Theater. He also made his critically acclaimed début as Count Almaviva in Il barbiere di Siviglia with Opera Roanoke.
Mr. Nestorak delighted audiences at the Glimmerglass Festival as Tobias in Stephen Sondheim’s gruesome favorite, Sweeney Todd, after he made his début at the festival as Monastatos in Die Zauberflöte the season before. He appeared in the title role of Albert Herring and Jupiter in Semele at Opera MODO; and as Lord Geoffrey in The Picture of Dorian Gray at Opera Fayetteville. Additional operatic engagements include the Physician in The Fall of the House of Usher; Borsa in Rigoletto and Spoletta in Tosca with Wolf Trap Opera; Pang in Turandot with Cedar Rapids Opera Theatre, the role of Gastone in La Traviata with Austin Lyric Opera, and a performance in Kurt Weill’s Seven Deadly Sins.
As a Benson Young Artist at Palm Beach Opera, Mr. Nestorak’s assignments included Tonio in La fille du régiment, Spalanzani and Nathanaël in Les contes d’Hoffmann, Almaviva in Il barbiere di Siviglia, Oronte in Alcina, George Gibbs in Our Town, and Malcolm in Macbeth. He is also an alumnus of the Young Artist Program at the Crested Butte Music Festival where his assignments included Almaviva in Il barbiere di Siviglia and Harlequin in Der Kaiser von Atlantis.
Also maintaining an active concert calendar, Mr. Nestorak’s credits include Händel’s Messiah and Alexander’s Feast, Rossini’s Petite messe solennelle, Beethoven’s Mass in C major and Choral Fantasy, and Mozart’s Mass in C major. Nestorak regularly earns accolades on the competition circuit including recognition by Classical Singer Magazine, the National Association of Teachers of Singing, the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, Crested Butte Music Festival, and the Marcello Giordani International Voice Competition.
Mr. Nestorak holds a Master of Music degree in Voice from the University of Michigan, where he appeared as Der Tanzmeister in Ariadne auf Naxos, Don Ottavio in Don Giovanni, and Nerone in L’incoronazione di Poppea. He also earned a Bachelor of Music degree from Hillsdale College, where his credits include Kaspar in Amahl and the Night Visitors and The Beast in Beauty and the Beast. Nestorak’s training also includes time at the Lyric Opera Studio of Weimar where he performed Tamino in Die Zauberflöte.
Current as of July 2. 2025
CRITICAL ACCLAIM
"…was particularly convincing as Tobias..." – Classical Voice America
Sweeney Todd – “Nicholas Nestorak…was particularly convincing as Tobias, the not-too-bright teenager whom Mrs. Lovett initially treats with motherly kindness. He tellingly portrayed Tobias’ evolution from naiveté through dawning awareness to an apparent psychotic break with reality that leads to the chilling denouement.”
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"...his lean tenor rode above the orchestra...” – Opera Today
Die Zauberflöte – “Nicholas Nestorak revealed himself to be a wonderful singing actor as Monastatos. He invested his text with nefarious import and his lean tenor rode above the orchestra.”
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"...one of the highlights of the performance...” – Ann Arbor Observer
Don Giovanni – “As Don Ottavio, tenor Nicholas Nestorak’s passionate and seamless delivery of “Il mio tesoro” was one of the highlights of the performance.”
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"…represent the future of opera...” – The Cooperstown Crier
Sweeney Todd – “And Nicholas Nestorak as the innocent-minded Toby almost steals the show.The array of talent displayed is quite remarkable since Greenleaf, Poroglic and Nestork…represent the future of opera.”
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"...thrilled audiences..." – Palm Beach Arts Paper
Our Town – “George, the “boy next door” sung by tenor Nicholas Nestorak— who thrilled audiences with his many high Cs in Donizetti’s Daughter of the Regiment at last December’s outdoor concert — did a solid job going through nervousness before his wedding to Emily and her subsequent death in childbirth. A very believable singing actor, with a bright vocal production that sounded fine all evening..”