Biography
Prior to joining the Shepherd School of Music as Artist Teacher of Opera Studies in the fall of 2023, Georgian pianist Nino Sanikidze spent nearly two decades at Los Angeles Opera—both as a Head Coach for the renowned Domingo-Colburn-Stein Young Artist Program, and as a principal coach, pianist, and prompter for LA Opera’s mainstage productions.
Since 2008, Dr. Sanikidze has been an official pianist for the “Operalia” World Opera Competition and, in this capacity, has performed on some of the world’s most celebrated stages. During the summers, she is in residence as a Faculty Artist at the Music Academy of the West in Santa Barbara, CA, where she works with exceptionally talented singers and pianists of the Lehrer Vocal Institute.
Highly in demand as a guest coach, pianist, and prompter, Dr. Sanikidze has been engaged for numerous productions at Teatro Real in Madrid, Spain; Teatro di San Carlo in Napoli, Italy; Royal Opera House Muscat, Oman; Teatro Municipal di Santiago, Chile; Bard Summerscape Festival in New York; Wichita Grand Opera, and Cleveland Opera.
Dr. Sanikidze serves on a judging panel of the Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition and Richard Tucker Music Foundations’ Study and Career Grant Auditions, as well as the Daegu International Opera Awards, Palm Springs Opera Guild Competition, Classical Singer Convention, Music Center Spotlight Awards, and Center Stage Opera Competition. Sought after clinician, she regularly visits Universities and Conservatories for Masterclasses and Residencies.
Some of the notable concert appearances include recitals with tenor Marcelo Álvarez, mezzo-soprano Elina Garanča, (both at the Broad Stage in Santa Monica, CA), world-renown guitarist Ángel Romero at “Palm Springs Life Festival”, Mezzo-Soprano Nancy Fabiola Herrera on the Canary Islands’ “Zarzuela en el Mundo” recital tour, and, most recently, with tenor Joseph Calleja at the “Festival del Sole” in Sonoma, CA.
Dr. Sanikidze is the recipient of numerous honors, including the Marilyn Horne Foundation Award for Excellence in Vocal Accompanying. She has attended such prestigious festivals as Music Academy of the West, Cleveland Art Song Festival, Songfest, and Aspen Opera Center. In the years 2003-2005, she became the Young Artist coach at Domingo-Cafritz Young Artist Program at Washington National Opera and, from 2004, began working professionally at various opera companies.
In addition to her work at opera theaters and music schools, Dr. Sanikidze’s talents have been engaged in various capacities, ranging from translation and diction-coaching choral recordings of a video game hit “Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War” to coaching classical voice finalists for “America’s Got Talent” to performing at nation-wide televised events, such as “Late Night with James Corden” (with Ailyn Perez and Luca Pisaroni), and at a funeral of the former First Lady Nancy Reagan (with Soprano Ana María Martínez), just to name a few.
Dr. Sanikidze serves as a Founding Board member of the Georgian Cultural and Educational Center of Southern California.