Puerto Rican mezzo-soprano Nicole Melissa Rivera is demonstrating her artistic versatility on the operatic stage, as a member of premier choirs, and as a soloist. She was most recently seen in the titular role in Frida Kahlo and the bravest niña in el mundo with Opera Saratoga and Brigitta in the Chicago premiere of Die tote Stadt with Chicago City Opera.

Nicole’s music career began at Stetson University in DeLand, Florida, where she earned both a Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance and a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology. At Stetson University’s School of Music, she was a member of several ensembles including Stetson University’s premier Concert Choir, under the direction of Timothy Peter, in which she performed in New York City’s Alice Tully Hall, Lincoln Center in the spring of 2014.  On the operatic stage, she was cast as Friederike in Stetson Opera Theatre's production of Oscar Straus's Ein Walzertraum. She was also named the third-place winner of Stetson University's prestigious H.M. Giffin Vocal Competition. Nicole excelled in both her music and academic careers, having received several scholarships and awards including the William E. Duckwitz Talent Scholarship and the Maris Prize for Undergraduate Research for her senior research work in psychology.

In addition to her involvement at Stetson University, Nicole was an opera chorus member in Vero Beach Opera's productions of Cavalleria Rusticana and Die Fledermaus. In the summer of 2015, she performed at the InterHarmony International Music Festival in Sulzbach-Rosenberg, Germany, where she was described as “undoubtedly, the most impressive talent of the night” in a review in the local newspaper. In addition, Ms. Rivera made her Carnegie Hall debut as a featured soloist in InterHarmony International Music Festival’s Heartstrings in a Chord concert in April of 2016.

After finishing her undergraduate studies, Nicole earned a Master of Music degree from North Park University under the tutelage of bass-baritone Sam Handley, where she was seen as the Witch in Hänsel und Gretel, the Spinster in Dominick Argento’s The Masque of Angels, and the mezzo-soprano soloist in the Mozart Requiem. She has been a young artist at several summer programs including Grant Park Music Festival and the Janiec Opera Company at Brevard Music Center. Nicole also advanced in the Audrey Rooney Vocal Competition in 2023 and the Georgia Symphony Orchestra Beethoven 9 Competition in 2024. She currently resides in Chicago where she studies with mezzo-soprano Anna Laurenzo and loves spending time with her dog, Figaro.