The Austrian tenor, born in Graz, is one of the most promising young voices on the international opera and concert circuit. After his studies at the "Mozarteum" Salzburg, he had his successful debut in May 1996 as "Alfredo" in La Traviata in Gelsenkirchen (Germany). While in Gelsenkirchen as well as in the course of his engagements at the Nationaltheater Mannheim and at the Staatstheater Nuremberg, respectively, he was able to build up a repertoire with various lyric roles. Guest appearances included invitations to the Deutsche Oper am Rhein, Düsseldorf, the "Kleines Festspielhaus" Salzburg, the Opéra de Lyon, the Théâtre du Châtelet, Paris, the Opéra Comique, Paris as well as to the Scottish Opera.
 
According to his vocal development, Nikolai Schukoff has been adapting his roles towards a more dramatic repertoire. In the fall of 2005, he appeared as "Jean" in a concert version of Massenet's Hérodiade in Munich and, following the advice of Christoph Eschenbach, as "Siegfried" / Götterdämmerung at the Châtelet in Paris in spring 2006. When performing "Siegmund" in a concert version of Walküre's first act at the Philharmonie Berlin in December 2006, he brought the house down. The same happened at the Bavarian State Opera in Munich when he took over "Parsifal" from Placido Domingo in April 2007. Other highlights include his portrayal of "Sergej" in Lady Macbeth von Mzensk at the Grand Théâtre de Genève as well as the operetta galas at the 2007 Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival and also his Lieder recitals with Christoph Eschenbach on the piano, which he presented at the festivals of Ravinia (USA) and Schleswig-Holstein, followed by "Don José" / CARMEN at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris, "Max" / Der Freischütz at the Grand Théâtre de Genève, "Danilo" / Merry Widow at the Hamburg State Opera as well as "Parsifal", "Dionysus" / The Bassarides, "Eisenstein" / FLEDERMAUS and "Erik" / FLYING DUTCHMAN at the Bavarian State Opera in Munich and at the Edinburgh Festival as well as "Parsifal" at the Palace of Arts in Budapest.
 
Among the future projects: "Parsifal" at the Dresden State Opera, in Hamburg, Munich, Paris and Lyon, "Steva" / JENUFA at the Teatro Real in Madrid, "Pollione" / NORMA at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris, "Don José" / CARMEN at the Festival of Baden-Baden, "Don José" / CARMEN as well as "Pinkerton" / BUTTERFLY in Hamburg, "Jim Mahoney" / MAHAGONNY in Toulouse and "The Prince" / RUSALKA in Gothenburg as well as "Parsifal" in the new production of the 2013 Salzburg Easter Festival, etc.
 
In 2004, he was invited to sing Janacek's Glagolitic Mass with the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra. In 2005, he appeared with the Orchestra dell'Accademia di Santa Cecilia in Rome under Gustavo Dudamel with Beethoven's 9th Symphony, at the San Sebastian Festival with Mahler's 8th Symphony and, at the Vienna Musikverein, with Schmidt's Das Buch mit sieben Siegeln (including a CD production). He performed Das Lied von der Erde with the Radio Orchestra under Jaap van Zweden at the Concertgebouw Amsterdam as well as with the Philadelphia Orchestra at the Lucerne Festival and at the Berlin Festival and with the London Philharmonic Orchestra at the Royal Festival Hall in London - all under Christoph Eschenbach. Mr. Schukoff also appeared in Mahler's 8th Symphony in Paris-Bercy with the Orchestre de Paris under Christoph Eschenbach and in Beethoven's 9th Symphony with the Gewandhaus Orchestra Leipzig under Riccardo Chailly as well as with the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande under Marek Janowski in Basel, Lausanne and Geneva and with the Radio Symphony Orchestra Berlin, again under Marek Janowski, at the Philharmonie Berlin. In 2008/09 the artist was invited to perform Schönberg's Gurrelieder at the Festival of Saragossa and in Bacelona, followed by Beethoven's Missa Solemnis with the London Philharmonic Orchestra under Christoph Eschenbach, "Siegmund" / Walküre 1st act with the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande under Marek Janowski in Geneva and in Lausanne, Mahler's 8th Symphony in Copenhagen under Ion Marin as well as Beethoven's 9th Symphony in Madrid and at the Festival de Saint-Denis.
 
Still to follow are Das Lied von der Erde with the Orchestre de Paris under Christoph Eschenbach in Paris, Das klagende Lied with the Orchestre National de France under Daniele Gatti in Paris, Missa Solemnis with the Chamber Orchestra of Europe in Lisbon, Verdi's Requiem with the National Symphony Orchestra in Washington DC under Christoph Eschenbach, "Guido Bardi" in Zemlinsky's Eine florentinische Tragödie with the Orchestra dell'Accademia di Sta. Cecilia in Rome, Pylade in concert performances of Iphigénie en Tauride at the Liceu in Barcelona, Beethoven's 9th Symphony with the National Symphony Orchestra in Washington DC, Missa Solemnis with the Bamberg Philharmonic Orchestra under Christoph Eschenbach, etc.
 
Nikolai Schukoff has also been working with conductors such as Marc Albrecht, Gian-Carlo Andretta, Christian Arming, Richard Armstrong, Philippe Auguin, Carlo Felice Cillario, Myun-Whun Chung, Alfred Eschwé, Leopold Hager, Gustav Kuhn, Sebastian Lang Lessing, Ioan Marin, Jun Märkl, Sir Yehudi Menuhin, Marc Minkowski, Kent Nagano, John Nelson, Victor Pablo Pérez, Josep Pons, Peter Schneider, Marc Soustrot and Simone Young.