Nori Heikkinen is a versatile mezzo-soprano based in Seattle, WA, with extensive experience as both a vocalist and instrumentalist (viola).  She recently appeared with Harmonia Orchestra & Chorus as the alto soloist in Handel’s Dixit Dominus (Nov. 2024); and with the Blessed Sacrament Cantorei as alto soloist, performing the aria O Thou That Tellest Good Tidings to Zion in Handel’s Messiah (Dec. 2024).  Nori sings locally with the Evergreen Ensemble and the Mägi Ensemble, touring to Estonia with the latter in Jan. 2024.  She has served as the primary staff alto at Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church since July 2023.

 

A native of Madison, WI, Nori performed with youth choirs and orchestras in her hometown before focusing on viola during her time at Swarthmore College (Midnight Quintett, founding member; Philadelphia Youth Orchestra; Orchestra 2001; Swarthmore College Orchestra). During her time in San Francisco, Nori sang with the San Francisco Symphony Chorus under Ragnar Bohlin, and also with the International Orange Chorale of San Francisco under Zane Fiala. She currently studies voice with José Luis Muñoz, and has previously studied viola with Joseph de Pasquale (Philadelphia), Judy Geist (Philadelphia), and Elena Denisova (Vienna).

 

Beyond her musical prowess, Nori cultivated a long career in technology, most notably at Google, where she held the roles of a Site Reliability Engineer, Tech Lead, and Manager on teams running both critical Google-wide infrastructure and the company’s flagship Cloud product. Nori also served as part of the elite “Tech Surge” to fix the healthcare.gov website in 2014.

 

Nori holds a Bachelor of Arts in Computer Science and Linguistics from Swarthmore College.  She studies voice with José Luis Muñoz.