Internationally renowned conductor Nicole Paiement is celebrated for her expertise in contemporary opera and her commitment to premiering new works.
As the Founder & Artistic Director of Opera Parallèle in San Francisco, Paiement has overseen numerous premieres and commissions, including the world premieres of Lou Harrison and Robert Gordon’s Young Caesar, Dante De Silva and Mitchell Morris’ Gesualdo, Prince of Madness, Luciano Chessa’s A Heavenly Act, the chamber reorchestration of John Harbison and Murray Horwitz’s The Great Gatsby, the chamber reorchestration of Terence Blanchard and Michael Cristofer’s Champion, Laura Kaminsky, Mark Campbell, and Kimberly Reed’s Today It Rains, the chamber adaptation of Paul Moravec and Mark Campbell’s The Shining, Kenji Oh and Kelley Rourke’s The Emissary, David Hanlon and Stephanie Fleischmann’s The Pigeon Keeper, and the chamber adaptation of Douglas Cuomo and John Patrick Shanley’s Doubt. Paiement has also led the American premieres of Adam Gorb and Ben Kaye’s Anya 17, and Tarik O’Regan and Tom Phillips’ Heart of Darkness; and the West Coast premieres of John Rea’s reorchestration of Berg’s Wozzeck, Philip Glass’ Orphée, Les Enfants Terribles, and La Belle et la Bête, and Lembit Beecher and Hannah Moscovitch’s Sophia’s Forest.
Some of Paiement’s other notable productions with Opera Parallèle have included Jake Heggie and Terrence McNally’s Dead Man Walking, Rachel Portman and Nicholas Wright’s The Little Prince, Philip Glass and Rudolph Wurlitzer’s In the Penal Colony in partnership with the Days & Nights Festival, three innovative adaptations of Joby Talbot and Gene Scheer’s Everest (Everest: A Graphic Novel Opera, Everest: An Immersive Experience, and Everest: Opera in the Planetarium), a double bill of David T. Little and Royce Vavrek’s Vinkensport alongside Laura Karpman and Gail Collins’ Balls, and Stewart Wallace and Michael Korie’s Harvey Milk: Reimagined.
In addition to her work with Opera Parallèle, Paiement maintains an active career as a guest conductor for orchestras and opera houses around the world. Her 2012 debut with The Dallas Opera, conducting Peter Maxwell Davies’ The Lighthouse, received enthusiastic reviews and led to her appointment as Principal Guest Conductor (2013-2025).
Paiement has served as the Artistic Director of the BluePrint Project at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music (SFCM) where she has commissioned, premiered, and recorded works by many living American composers.
After her debut, she returned to conduct many acclaimed productions, including Tod Machover and Robert Pinsky’s Death and the Powers, the world premiere of Joby Talbot and Gene Scheer’s Everest, Britten’s The Turn of the Screw, Douglas Cuomo’s Arjuna’s Dilemma, the U.S. premiere of Michel van der Aa and David Mitchell’s Sunken Garden, Bizet’s The Pearl Fishers, and—most recently—Gounod’s Roméo et Juliette.
Paiement’s other operatic guest-conducting engagements have included Jake Heggie and Terrence McNally’s Dead Man Walking at Lyric Opera of Chicago; Mason Bates and Mark Campbell’s The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs at Seattle Opera; Joby Talbot and Gene Scheer’s Everest at Lyric Opera of Kansas City; Kevin Puts and Mark Campbell’s Silent Night at The Atlanta Opera, Washington National Opera, and the Glimmerglass Festival; the world premiere of Mohammed Fairouz and Mohammed Hanif’s The Dictator’s Wife at Washington National Opera; George Benjamin and Martin Crimp’s Written on Skin, Osvaldo Golijov and David Henry Hwang’s Ainadamar, and Janáček’s Jenůfa at L’Opéra de Montréal; Jake Heggie and Gene Scheer’s It’s a Wonderful Life at English National Opera; Joby Talbot and Gene Scheer’s Everest with the BBC Symphony Orchestra; John Adams and Peter Sellars’ The Gospel According to the Other Mary at Volksoper Vienna; the world premiere of Derek Bermel and Sandra Cisneros’ The House on Mango Street at the Glimmerglass Festival; and—most recently—Gluck’s Orphée et Euridice at Pacific Opera Victoria. Paiement has also appeared as a guest orchestral conductor with the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra Sinfonica Siciliana, Volksoper Vienna, the Grant Park Music Festival, and the Transylvania State Philharmonic Orchestra.
At SFCM, she holds the Jean and Josette Deleage Distinguished Chair in New Music. Paiement previously served as the Director of Ensembles at the University of California, Santa Cruz (UCSC), where she was awarded the UCSC Eminent Professor Award in 2014. She received the Edward A. Dickson Emeritus Professorship in 2015 in recognition of her outstanding achievement in artistic scholarship and teaching. Paiement has also received numerous awards for her leadership and expertise in contemporary opera, including the “Champion of New Music” award from the American Composer’s Forum. In addition to being a scholar and leader in the world of contemporary music, Paiement is a specialist in early twentieth-century French music and regularly conducts music from the Baroque and Classical periods.
During the 2026-27 season, Paiement’s productions with Opera Parallèle will include the world premiere of the chamber reorchestration of Joby Talbot and Gene Scheer’s The Diving Bell and the Butterfly in March 2027, and the West Coast premiere of Kamala Sankaram and Jerre Dye’s Taking Up Serpents in May 2027. As a guest conductor, Paiement will conduct Paul Moravec and Mark Campbell’s The Shining at Hawaii Opera Theatre in October and November 2026, and an orchestral program with the Transylvania State Philharmonic Orchestra in December 2026.
Gianluca Macheda
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Stefania Ramacciotti
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sramacciotti@gmartandmusic.com
“Under the astute and sensitive direction of Nicole Paiement, the orchestra in fact is often the fifth character with a clear voice of its own.”
Eddie Reynolds, Theatre Eddys
“Conductor Nicole Paiement, as always, shapes the music and gave it some beautiful lines. The soli from woodwinds and strings were powerful. Cuomo’s music is effective, and shows his many influences. It is not surprising that he composes for television and film.”
The Opera Tattler
“Conductor Nicole Paiement oversaw the excellent ensemble of players who executed the score that was at once obviously difficult and surely musically rewarding, each of the players awarded much solo opportunity.”
Michael Milenski, Opera Today
“Nicole Paiement’s conducting was, by turns, propulsive and tender, with top-notch playing by the chamber orchestra.”