Nikki Li Hartliep is a critically acclaimed soprano who has performed extensively with opera companies and orchestras internationally and throughout North America..
After graduating from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, Ms Hartliep won first place in the Merola Opera Program (Schwabacher Award) and was awarded a prestigious Adler Fellow for two years during which she was the official cover for great singing artists such as Mirella Freni, Pilar Lorengar, and Margaret Price. In 1987, she was Grand Finalist Winner, Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions.
For the next 20 years, Ms Hartliep was renowned for her passionate and heartfelt performances. Ms Hartliep became closely identified with the title role of Madama Butterfly and has performed Cio-Cio-San with prestigious companies, including: San Francisco Opera, Canadian Opera, New York City Opera, Teatro Teresa Carreno (Caracas, Venezuela), Seattle Opera, Dublin Grand Opera, Minnesota Opera, Atlanta Opera, Florida Grand Opera, Florentine Opera, and Austin Lyric Opera. Other principal roles for Ms Hartliep included the lead in Suor Angelica with the Canadian Opera Company, Micaela in Carmen with the Lyric Opera of Chicago, Tatyana in Eugene Onegin with the Lyric Opera of Chicago, Ellen Orford in Peter Grimes with the Opera Company of Philadelphia, Mimi in La boheme with San Francisco Opera and with Opera Colorado, and Alice Ford in Falstaff with San Francisco Opera and in Japan on tour with Maestro Seji Ozawa conducting.
Orchestral appearances include a Carnegie Hall debut in Mendelssohn’s Elijah with Sherrill Milnes, the Collegiate Chorale and the Orchestra of St Luke’s, and an historic concert performance of Jenufa in Carnegie Hall with Eve Queler and Opera Orchestra of New York. Other appearances include engagements with Orchestre de Teatre Liceu (Barcelona, Spain), The San Francisco Symphony Pops, Minnesota Orchestra, New Hampshire Symphony, Tucson Symphony, Asheville Symphony, California Symphony, Charleston Symphony, Orchestra of St Luke’s – New York, The Metropolitan Opera Orchestra.
As a teacher, Ms Hartliep has taught in a number of distinguished educational institutions and in her private studio to students at all levels and of all voice types. Faculties she has served on include Eastman School of Music, Rochester, New York (2003-2014) as Assistant Professor of Voice, and on the Performance Faculty of her alma mater, the San Francisco Conservatory of Music (2003-2005). She was also Vocal Advisor to the Florida Grand Opera Apprenticeship Program (2000-2001).
Ms Hartliep has maintained a private voice studio since 1999. Before moving to New Zealand in 2019, her private studio was located at the National Opera Center in Manhattan, New York, where she worked with semi-professional and professional singers including principal artists with international companies, concert soloists, winners in prestigious singing competitions, and participants in professional young artist programs. She is currently the primary teacher for Te Pae Kokako – The Aotearoa New Zealand Opera Studio (TANZOS) presently housed at the Waikato University, Hamilton, where a group of carefully selected aspiring young New Zealand opera singers are being prepared for a singing career.
This is Nikki Li’s second year at the NZ Opera School as international vocal coach.