Winning first prize in The Australian Singing Competition marked the begging of an international career for the Japanese soprano Akiko Nakajima. In quick succession there followed her debut for Opera Australia in La Clemenza di Tito under Christopher Hogwood and her European debut at the Teatro di San Carlo di Napoli as Musetta in La Boheme.
She then embarked on an international career as both opera and concert singer. She made her Austrian debut in the title role of Handel's Alcina for Innsbruck's Festwochen der Alten Musik- a production that was awarded by the European Broad Casting Union. She joined the Tiroler Landestheater Innsbruck and later the Staatstheater Darmstadt where she sang principal roles. Her appearances in the demanding Bel Canto roles of Adina in L'Elisir D'Amore, the title roles of La Sonnambula and La Fille du Regiment were greeted with great enthusiasm by audience and critics alike and her sensational triumph as Lucia di Lammermoor led to her nomination as The best singer of the year (1998) by Opernwelt magazine. Her stylish interpretations of Sophie in Der Rosenkavalier and Pamina in Die Zauberflote were also greatly acclaimed.
Her stunning debut as Sonja in Der Zarewitsch at the Vienna Volksoper in 1999 was followed by other successes: as Violetta in La Traviata; Anne in The Rake's Progress; Annina In Eine Nacht in Venedig. In 2007 She made her debut at the Hamburg State Opera as Donna Fiorilla in Il Turco in Italia, and covered Cecilia Bartoli at the Royal Opera House, London in 2006 with the same role. In 2007, she made her debut at Hamburg State Opera as Donna Fiorilla in Il Turco in Italia. In 2008, a role debut as Cio-cio-san in Madama Butterfly has received many triumphant reviews. At the same time, her career has continued to develop in Japan where she regularly appears with NHK Orchestra and New National Theater Tokyo.
In the field of concert and recital, Akiko Nakajima has a broad repertoire, reaching from the Bach Passions and lieder by Schubert and Wolf, to contemporary composers. She has appeared in festivals such as Festival Dei Due Mondi, Spoleto; Festwochen der Alten Musik Innsbruck; Munchener Biennale, Wiener Festwochen. Venues at which she has appeared include the Leipzig Gewandhaus; Kulturpalast Dresden; Alte Oper Frankfurt; Konzerthaus Berlin; Konzerthaus Wien; Theatre des Champs Elysees, Suntory Hall and NHK Hall in Tokyo. Her debut at the Wigmore Hall (2005) was greeted with great acclaim.
Among the celebrated conductors with whom she has appeared are; Lorin Maazel, Herbert Blomstedt, Charles Dutoit, Kazushi Ono, Myung-Whun Chung, Ondrej Lenard, Heinrich Schiff and Thomas Hengelbrock.
Akiko Nakajima's first solo CD LA PASTORELLA has been released on the Viennese label Preiser Records (PR90647) and was nominated for the Deutschen Schallplattenkritik list. FEMALE PORTRAITS (PR90691), a collection of operatic arias and duets was followed by another recording, PLAISIR D'AMOUR (CDS556) from an Italian Label, Dynamic in 2008.
Her recent engagements include Mahler 2nd with Zubin Mehta and Maggio Musicale Fiorentino in Abu Dhabi, the Mendelssohn's A Midsummer's Night Dream with Seiji Ozawa and Mito Chamber Orchestra, the Weill's the Seven Deadly Sins with Charles Dutoit and Miyazaki International Music Festival Orchestra, New Year Concerts in New York and Washington as well as Japan tour with Franz Liszt Chamber Orchestra. Since October 2008, Akiko Nakajima works also as an assistant of the Faculty of Architecture and Design at the Vienna University of Technology.
