The new album “Dunkles Licht” is released by label GLM Music.
Nina Ernst was born in Göttingen and comes from an artist family. Her great-grandmother, as well as her grandmother were opera singers, her grandfather was an actor. She grew up outside the City of Hamburg, where she completed her education at the acting school Schule für Schauspiel Hamburg. Shortly after that, she moved to Berlin, where she discovered her love of jazz singing. Next to her classical singing education she also trained with the american jazz legend Sheila Jordan.
In 2005 she sang for the CD production “Swinging Christmas”, which was published by the magazine Für Sie.
She toured in Brazil after having released songs on the album “Degas/Weiser - Heimat, von fern so nah” (Label: Piranha Musik) in 2006. On this album German folk songs were interpreted in a Brazilian style of music.
In cooperation with producer Ralf Goldkind and the band “Familie Ackermann” own songs were created.
In 2009 she recorded a bossa nova CD in Rio de Janeiro titled “Nina Ernst canta Jobim” (Label: Fina Flor), which received brilliant critical rewiews in Brazil. Even the bossa nova legend Leny Andrade praised it.
She also toured internationally as guest singer for Dieter Meier (Yello) on his “Out of Chaos” - tour (Berlin, New York, London, etc.).
Together with musicians of Leny Andrade's band and her own show - concepts
- “Marlene Dietrich meets Tom Jobim”
- “The wall and the longing”
- “Rita Lee’s trip to Germany”
- “In the footsteps of Caterina Valente”
- “Nina Ernst sings Hildegard Knef”
she has appeared live on behalf of the German Embassy and Consulates in Brazil and Argentina since 2014.
She was invited to the festival “Bossa Nova in Concert” in Rio de Janeiro with her program “Nina Ernst canta Jobim” in 2017.
In 2019 she participated as a guestsinger in the recording of the DVD “Fábio Carneirinho em Paris”, a concert of Forró music underneath the Eiffel tower and represented her new show “A Dor do Amor” with brazilian songs in Rio de Janeiro.
In her music and video project “A Diva’s Mind” (Label: Fina Flor) high class artists from both São Paulo and Berlin came together in a very creative process of cooperation. The CD was released in 2019, the music videos were produced by photographer Gal Oppido.
In 2020, she took part in the digital music festival “FicaZusammen” on behalf of the German diplomatic institutions in Brazil with a music video of her own composition “Ich hab’ nie nachgedacht” and recorded the duet “Desarvorar” with Brazilian singer Tico de Moraes.
In 2022, she created a music video with a version of the song “A Rosa de Hiroshima” in collaboration with the visual artist Paulo von Poser from São Paulo. In 2023/24, the video was part of the art exhibition “Rosas Brasileiras” at Farol Santander in São Paulo.
In 2022, Nina Ernst recorded a new album of self-written German-language chansons and Brazilian songs based on the title “Dunkles Licht” (dark light). The album was released by the label GLM Music, in 2024. In August 2023 she gave some pre-concerts with high class brazilian musicians under the title “Luz Escura” for SESC São Paulo and at Brigitte Blair theatre in Rio de Janeiro. The music video for the song “Dein Garten” won the Munich Music Video Awards in the Best Art Music Video category in 2024. “Dunkles Licht” was selected as album of the week by SR2 Kulturradio. In 2024, concerts were presented for the German Embassy in Luanda.
In 2023, she performed with the group Filosofia & Arte at JazzB in São Paulo, as well as at the Rival theatre in Rio de Janeiro.
As an actress she she has appeared as Mélanie Hahnemann in the documentary “Die Geschichte der Homöopathie” (BR) as well as Sabine in the TV series “Angie” (RTL). In 2019 she played the teacher Mrs. Breitscheidt in the series “Druck” (ZDF neo), as well as in 2021 the greedy real estate agent Ms. Gross in the mini-series "Menschen im Hof", which is presented at various festivals and won the award Deutscher Jugendfilmpreis 2024.
She has being on theatre stage in Berlin and Hamburg.
Together with the director Gabi Rothmüller she developed the musical comedy show “Auf dem Weg zum Gipfel” which was shown at the UFA Fabrik in Berlin in 2011/12. Within this show she incarnated the caracter of Nina Tigrinha. In 2020, she performed as Nina Tigrinha “The Samba Casting” and her self-written song “If you feel lonely” at the “Satyrianas” Festival (São Paulo, Brazil).
In 2020, Nina Ernst played the role of the diva “Madame Classique” in the international digital theatre play “The Art of Facing Fear”, written and directed by Ivam Cabral and Rodolfo García Vásquez of the Brazilian theatre group Os Satyros. A cinema film was produced in 2021. At the theatre festival “The Red Curtain Good The@tre Awards 2020” (India), the play was awarded in the categories best ensemble and best production and in 2021 with the “Young-Howze Theatre Award” (USA) in the category worldwide award. In 2023, it was nominated for the “Shell de Teatro” Awards (Brazil).
Nina's pleasant speaking voice can be heard in numerous radio plays and productions of Deutschlandradio, Deutschlandfunk, Deutschlandradio Kultur, RBB, hr2 Kultur, WDR, BR, ORF, der Hörverlag, Der Audio Verlag, Warner Music, Europa or Ravensburger.
The radio play “Wir nannte ihn Tüte” (Deutschlandradio Kultur), in which she embodied the policewoman Gisela Hotz, was awarded the MDR Children's Radio Play Award in 2020, as well as the Children's Radio Play Award of the City of Karlsruhe.
The radio play “Briefe aus der Hölle” (Hessischer Rundfunk / Der Audio Verlag), in which she gave her voice to female Holocaust victims, was nominated for the German Radio Play Award in 2021. In 2022, director Andreas Weiser received the Robert Geisendörfer Award for this production. It was nominated for the German Audiobook Award 2023.
In 2023 Nina Ernst spoke, among other things, in the series Lange Nacht in the program “George Orwell: Sozialist, Humanist, Autor von Dystopien” (Deutschlandfunk Kultur), as well as the role of the worried mother Mrs. Schmecks in the children's radio play “1, 2, 3, 4, Eckstein - alles muss versteckt sein” (Deutschlandfunk Kultur).
She also works in the field of voice over / dubbing. She was the singing voice of the main character Mama Mirabelle in the German version of the cartoon “Mama Mirabelle’s home movies”.
As a singer, she can be booked with a band for events.