Nicole Cabell (born October 17, 1977 in Panorama City, California) is an American opera singer. She is presently best known as the 2005 winner of the BBC Cardiff Singer of the World Competition. Cabell's grandfather, Luther Lanier, was the first African American Chief in the Sheriff's Department in Los Angeles.

She is of African American, Korean and Caucasian ancestry, and was brought up in the California beach town of Ventura. As a child, she did not listen to classical music, but she did play the flute in her junior high school band. She and a classmate used to play basketball together and would "imitate opera singers".

Her mother encouraged her to join the school choir. She tried out for a school musical and was a success. At the age of 15, Cabell began to notice that "People obviously can hear something, even if I can't," she said.

"That's sort of how it's been: I've been walking through doors as they've been presented to me". She had three years of private singing lessons in high school with teacher Linda J. Brice (MM, Indiana University) and vocal coach Vincent Sorisio [BM, Indiana University School of Music, MM, California State University, Northridge].

At Eastman Nicole studied(with John Maloy). She then entered the Juilliard School but was only there for a very short time, as she had been asked to join the Lyric Opera Center for American Artists at the Lyric Opera of Chicago. She stayed there for 3 years, during which time the then Center's director, Richard Pearlman, famous soprano and Director of Vocal Studies Gianna Rolandi and opera legend Marilyn Horne were her mentors.

She still studies with Rolandi, who is the present director of the newly renamed Ryan Opera Center. Cabell's repertoire includes Pamina (Die Zauberflöte), Juliette (Roméo et Juliette), Adina (L'elisir d'amore), The Vixen (The Cunning Little Vixen), Musetta (La bohème), Lauretta and La Ciesca (Gianni Schicchi), Clara (Porgy and Bess), La Princesse in Ravel's L'enfant et les sortilèges, La Femme in Poulenc's La voix humaine, Miss Jessel in The Turn of the Screw and Arsamenes in Xerxes. She has recently added the role of Ilia in Mozart's Idomeneo.

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