Dutch bass-baritone Nico Wouterse studied at the conservatories in Maastricht and Amsterdam.
After studying classical saxophone with Adri van Velzen, Wouterse studied singing and opera with Mya Besselink at the conservatory in Maastricht. This was followed by masterclasses with Jean-Pierre Blivet, Margreet Honig, Leo van Oostrom and Semjon Skigin, among others
Wouterse made his operatic debut at the Trier Theatre as Leporello in the opera Don Giovanni and was a permanent member of the ensemble there for some time. It was here that he met his later coach and mentor Daniel-Lewis Williams.
Further engagements followed, initially as a permanent member of Johannes Felsensein's ensemble at the Anhalt Theatre in Dessau and also as a guest opera singer.
Wouterse sang Escamillo at the festivals in Schwerin and at "Oper Schenkenberg" in Switzerland, among others.
Wouterse has also appeared as a guest at numerous German theatres, including the Cologne Opera, the state theatres in Oldenburg, Cottbus, Mainz and Saarbrücken, the National Theatre in Weimar and the opera houses in Riga, 's Hertogenbosch, Warsaw and Liège.
In 2016, Wouterse was signed permanently to the Koblenz Theatre, where he can be seen as Leporello, Figaro, Scarpia, the Forester in The Cunning Little Vixen and the Dutchman.
His roles include Escamillo, Leporello, Figaro, Warlaam, Scarpia, Don Pizarro, Kaspar, Wotan/Wanderer, Ramfis, Banquo, Padre Guardiano, Alberich, Klingsor, Holländer and Wotan.
In addition to his work as an opera singer, Wouterse is also active as a concert singer and has interpreted the bass roles in masses and oratorios by Handel, Haydn, Mozart, Elgar and Verdi.
With the "TrèvesPunkt Reedquintet" in Trier and the "Calamus Reedquintet" in Koblenz, Wouterse was the first to introduce the "reed quintet" genre in Germany in 2012. Wouterse is associated with the ensembles as a saxophonist and arranger.