Winner of the BBC Musician Magazine Personality of the Year 2022, Opera Singer Nicky Spence is an artist and broadcaster of great integrity and one of Scotland’s proudest sons. Nicky was made an OBE in the King's inaugural Birthday Honours in 2023 for services to Music and received the Singer Award from the Royal Philharmonic Society in 2024.

Nicky, a force for good in the classical music world, was recently made a fellow of his alma mater, the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. This year, they also launched a Scholarship in his name, with the principal aim of easing the path into high-level training for singers from lower socioeconomic backgrounds.

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Nicky was schooled locally in Dumfries and Galloway before receiving a scholarship to the Guildhall School in his teens. During his training, he won a record contract with Decca Records before taking a place at the National Opera Studio and latterly a position at the English National Opera as one of their inaugural Harewood Artists. 

Nicky is prized for his portrayal of Janáček roles having recently received the Janáček Memorial medal by the Czech Prime Minsiter in Brno for his contribution to Janáček's music legacy. Nicky continues to fulfil his exciting potential as a Heldentenor having recently made his role debut as Parsifal with the Hallé orchestra under Sir Mark Elder and in Britten's Peter Grimes in an acclaimed production for WNO. Nicky has recorded prolifically and is a regular featured recitalist at the Wigmore Hall, London though he can mostly be found on the International stages of Opera de Paris, Covent Garden and the Metropolitan Opera, New York. In 2020, he won both the BBC Music Magazine Vocal Award and Gramophone’s Solo Vocal Award for his critically acclaimed recording of Janáček’s vocal work The Diary of One who Disappeared with Julius Drake. This year, Nicky went on to win the same double accolade for his recording in the title role in Elgar's The Dream of Gerontius with the Gabrieli Consort.

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Recent operatic successes include title roles: Peter Grimes WNO; The Excurisons of Mr Brouček Brno Janáček Festival and a return to Glyndebourne Festival and ROH to sing Boris Katya Kabanova and Laca Jenůfa respectively.  Other acclaimed debuts include Albert Gregor in Věc Makropulos Deutche Staatsoper, Berlin, Siegmund Die Walküre directed by Richard Jones, Laca in Claus Guth’s new production of Jenůfa at the Royal Opera, Erik in Der Fliegender Holländer alongside Sir Bryn Terfel for Grange Park, a tour with Jakub Hrůša in Janáček's The Eternal Gospel (Santa Cecilia, Rome / l'Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France), his role debut as Loge in a new Wagner Ring for La Monnaie with Romeo Castellucci, Thomas Adès' The Exterminating Angel in Paris and Jenůfa in concert with the LSO and Sir Simon Rattle.

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Upcoming appearances include important role debuts: Hauptmann Wozzeck with Sir Simon Rattle in Munich, Finn / Bajan Ruslan and Lyudmila Hamburg Staatsoper, a world premiere work for Philadelphia Opera, a return to Opera de Paris in Satyagraha and "Balls", an opera by Laura Karpman conducted by Marin Alsop. This year also conclude's Nicky's artist's residency at the Wigmore Hall and other appearances at Orquestra Nacionales España for Die Walküre in concert, Jenůfa in concert with Jakub Hrůša and Bamberg Symphony, and recitals in Aldeburgh, Germany, Belgium, France and Scotland.

Nicky is using his space to bring more people to classical music than ever before and recently presented an acclaimed run of TV programmes: Anyone can sing and Sing when you're winning (Sky Arts), contributing regularly to print, and broadcasts both on radio and television.  Nicky is past President  for the Independent Society of Musicians, an official Ambassador for charity Help Musicians UK, on the Sounding Board at the National Opera Studio, London and patron for the Grasmere Song at Ambleside. Nicky gives masterclasses Internationally and is a visiting professor at both the Royal Academy of Music and the Royal College of Music, London. 

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