The French bass Nicolas Testé studied piano, bassoon and music history in Paris before embarking on a career as a singer. He studied at the Opéra National de Paris and Centre de Formation Lyrique. In 1998 he was awarded with the Second Prize at the “Voix Nouvelles” competition.

Nicolas Testé regularly performs in many renowned opera houses such as the Metropolitan Opera New York, Staatsoper Munich, Los Angeles Opera, San Francisco Opera, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Opéra National de Paris, Teatro San Carlo Naples, Grand Théâtre de Genève, Teatro alla Scala di Milano, Teatro La Fenice as well as at the Glyndebourne Festival and Chorégies d’Orange. His extensive repertoire comprises title roles in Iphigénie en Aulide (Agamemnon), Roméo et Juliette
(Frère Laurent), Manon (Des Grieux), Hamlet (Claudius), Il Trovatore (Ferrando), The Magic Flute (Sarastro), Castor and Pollux (Jupiter), Faust (Mephisto), The Tales of Hoffmann (The Four Villains) and The Barber of Seville (Basilio).

In previous seasons he performed at the Bayerische Staatsoper in La Bohème (Colline) at the Metropolitan Opera in Carmen (Zuniga), at the Opéra de Paris in Samson and Dalila (Abimelech) as well as at the Los Angeles Opera in the role of the Four Villains in The Tales of Hoffmann. Further performances include Nicolas Testé’s return to the Bayerische Staatsoper in the production of Lucia di Lammermoor (Raimondo). Furthermore, he performed at the Opernhaus Zurich in Maria Stuarda (Giorgio Talbot) and at the Deutsche Oper Berlin in the same role. Further productions at the Deutsche Oper Berlin include Faust (Mephisto) and La Gioconda (Alvise Badoero). In January 2018 he performed at the Opéra National de Paris in The Barber of Seville (Basilio).

In October 2018 Nicolas Testé returned to the Opéra Bastille to sing in Meyerbeer’s Les Huguenots in the role of the servant Marcel followed by an engagement at the MET performing in Les Pêcheurs de perles (Nourabad). In spring 2019 Nicolas Testé made a celebrated role debut singing the Sarastro in Mozart’s The Magic Flute at Paris’ Opéra Bastille as well as a role debut as Claudius in concert version performances of Hamlet in Barcelona and at the Deutsche Oper Berlin. In autumn 2019 Testé returned as Sir Giorgio in Bellini’s I Puritani at the Opéra Bastille.

In the season 2021/22 he was on stage as Compte des Grieux in Manon at the Opera of Lyon, as Ramfis in Aida in a production with Anna Netrebko at the Teatro San Carlo Naples, in Norma as Oroveso at the Gran Teatre des Liceu Barcelona and as Colline in La Bohème at the MET. Besides numerous opera productions Nicolas Testé regularly performs with internationally renowned symphony orchestras. In November 2017 he embarked on an Asia Tour together with the renowned soprano Diana Damrau performing opera gala and recital programmes with concerts in Singapore, Shanghai, Tokyo, Seoul, Taipei and Beijing. In the frame of the tour VERDIssimo he gave concerts in Europe’s major concert halls in May and June 2018.

The 2022/23 season sees him as Claudius in Hamlet at the Opéra Royal Wallonie Liège and on tour with the Budapest festival orchestra as Arkel in Pelléas et Mélisande and on tour in Asia with soprano Diana Damrau.

Highlights of the 2023/24, the 2024/25 and 2025/26 seasons are his engagements at the Washington National Opera for a Roméo et Juliette production, at the National Centre for the Performing Arts Peking, at the Berlin State Opera and at the Zurich Opera House, Faust in Cologne, Norma at Palm Beach Opera, La Bohème at the Metropolitan Opera, Manon Lescaut at the Zurich Opera House and Pelléas et Mélisande at the Grand Théâtre de Genève.