Canadian soprano Neema Bickersteth was born and raised in Alberta to parents from Sierra Leone. She is known for her skills as a singer, an actor and a maker and dramaturge of multi-disciplinary performance.
She has performed operatic roles in both Canada and Europe - ranging from Mozart to Lehar to Weill. In recent years, she has specialized in contemporary projects in opera, music theatre and experimental theatre. These include: the title role in Scott Joplin's Treemonisha - A Musical Reimagining, produced by Volcano at the Luminato Festival (co-presented by TO Live, and associate produced by the Canadian Opera Company, Soulpepper Theatre and Moveable Beast); the lead role in The Ritual of Breath is the Rite to Resist (Hopkins Center/Stanford Live), an opera in seven movements by librettist Vievee Francis and composer Jonathan Berger, responding to the murder of Eric Garner; Aportia Chryptych, a Black opera for Portia White (Canadian Opera Company); a popular series of concerts and shows with Soulpepper Theatre in Toronto and New York; tours in the USA and Europe with globally-acclaimed Spanish conductor and musician Jordi Savall; Life After for the Musical Stage and Canadian Stage Companies in Toronto; and Century Song for Toronto’s multiple award-winning Volcano and her own collective, Moveable Beast. Century Song is a work she co-created and which has had multiple tours in Canada, Europe and East Africa to critical acclaim.
She has worked for some of the most prestigious companies in Canada, including the Canadian Stage Company, the Canadian Opera Company, Volcano, Tapestry New Opera, Nightwood Theatre, Crow’s Theatre, Musical Stage Company, Luminato Festival, Stratford Festival, PuSh Festival, Obsidian Theatre, Urbanvessel and the National Arts Centre of Canada, among many others.
She has performed operatic roles in both Canada and Europe - ranging from Mozart to Lehar to Weill. In recent years, she has specialized in contemporary projects in opera, music theatre and experimental theatre. These include: the title role in Scott Joplin's Treemonisha - A Musical Reimagining, produced by Volcano at the Luminato Festival (co-presented by TO Live, and associate produced by the Canadian Opera Company, Soulpepper Theatre and Moveable Beast); the lead role in The Ritual of Breath is the Rite to Resist (Hopkins Center/Stanford Live), an opera in seven movements by librettist Vievee Francis and composer Jonathan Berger, responding to the murder of Eric Garner; Aportia Chryptych, a Black opera for Portia White (Canadian Opera Company); a popular series of concerts and shows with Soulpepper Theatre in Toronto and New York; tours in the USA and Europe with globally-acclaimed Spanish conductor and musician Jordi Savall; Life After for the Musical Stage and Canadian Stage Companies in Toronto; and Century Song for Toronto’s multiple award-winning Volcano and her own collective, Moveable Beast. Century Song is a work she co-created and which has had multiple tours in Canada, Europe and East Africa to critical acclaim.
She has worked for some of the most prestigious companies in Canada, including the Canadian Stage Company, the Canadian Opera Company, Volcano, Tapestry New Opera, Nightwood Theatre, Crow’s Theatre, Musical Stage Company, Luminato Festival, Stratford Festival, PuSh Festival, Obsidian Theatre, Urbanvessel and the National Arts Centre of Canada, among many others.
In addition, Neema has been honoured to perform for the XIVth Dalai Lama, Shirin Ebadi and the Archbishop Desmond Tutu. She has received both Bachelor and Master of Music degrees (Opera) from the University of British Columbia. She is a co-founder of and artistic producer for the experimental collective, Moveable Beast. NOW Magazine (Toronto) has named her as one of the top ten theatre artists in the city. She has won once and been nominated three times for Outstanding Performance at Toronto’s Dora Mavor Moore awards.