Jennifer Johnson is an American opera

Opera

Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...

tic mezzo-soprano

Mezzo-soprano

A mezzo-soprano is a type of classical female singing voice whose range lies between the soprano and the contralto singing voices, usually extending from the A below middle C to the A two octaves above...

. She earned a Bachelor of Music

Bachelor of Music

Bachelor of Music is an academic degree awarded by a college, university, or conservatory upon completion of program of study in music. In the United States, it is a professional degree; the majority of work consists of prescribed music courses and study in applied music, usually requiring a...

 degree from Webster University

Webster University

Webster University is an American non-profit private university with its main campus in Webster Groves, a suburb of St. Louis, Missouri. Webster University is accredited by The Higher Learning Commission and is a member of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools...

 and a Master of Music

Master of Music

The Master of Music is the first graduate degree in Music awarded by universities and music conservatories. The M.Mus. combines advanced studies in an applied area of specialization with graduate-level academic study in subjects such as music history, music theory, or music pedagogy...

 degree from Rice University

Rice University

William Marsh Rice University, commonly referred to as Rice University or Rice, is a private research university located on a heavily wooded campus in Houston, Texas, United States...

 where she was a pupil of Kathleen Kaun. In 2008 she won the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions

Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions

The Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions is an annual singing competition sponsored by the Metropolitan Opera. Established in 1954, its purpose is to discover, assist, promote, and develop young opera singers. The competition is held in four stages: Districts, Regional, Semi-Final, and...

, and in 2009 she won the Young Concert Artists

Young Concert Artists

Young Concert Artists is a New York City-based non-profit organization dedicated to discovering and promoting the careers of talented young classical musicians from all over the world...

 competition and was the recipient of a Sullivan Foundation

Sullivan Foundation

The Sullivan Foundation is a non-profit organization dedicated to finding, developing, and furthering the careers of promising opera singers within the United States. Founded in 1956 through the bequest of a prominent lawyer, William Matheus Sullivan, the foundation has awarded grants to close to...

 grant. She is currently a member of the Metropolitan Opera

Metropolitan Opera

The Metropolitan Opera is an opera company, located in New York City. Originally founded in 1880, the company gave its first performance on October 22, 1883. The company is operated by the non-profit Metropolitan Opera Association, with Peter Gelb as general manager...

's Lindemann Young Artist Development Program.

In 2008 Johnson made her professional opera debut with the Opera Theatre of Saint Louis

Opera Theatre of Saint Louis

Opera Theatre of Saint Louis is a summer opera festival held in St. Louis, Missouri. Typically four operas, all sung in English, are presented each season, which runs from late May to late June. Performances are accompanied by the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra, which is divided into two...

 as The
Muse/Nicklausse in Jacques Offenbach

Jacques Offenbach

Jacques Offenbach was a Prussian-born French composer, cellist and impresario. He is remembered for his nearly 100 operettas of the 1850s–1870s and his uncompleted opera The Tales of Hoffmann. He was a powerful influence on later composers of the operetta genre, particularly Johann Strauss, Jr....

's The Tales of Hoffmann. In 2009 she made her debut at the Chicago Opera Theater

Chicago Opera Theater

The Chicago Opera Theater is an opera company that was founded as the Chicago Opera Studio in 1974 by Alan Stone to give vocal students performance experience, although it has grown into a professional opera company...

 as Kate Julian in Benjamin Britten

Benjamin Britten

Edward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten, OM CH was an English composer, conductor, and pianist. He showed talent from an early age, and first came to public attention with the a cappella choral work A Boy Was Born in 1934. With the premiere of his opera Peter Grimes in 1945, he leapt to...

's Owen Wingrave

Owen Wingrave

Owen Wingrave is an opera for television in two acts with music by Benjamin Britten, his Opus 85, and a libretto by Myfanwy Piper, after a short story by Henry James....

, and gave her first performance at the Met in a minor role in Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro

The Marriage of Figaro

Le nozze di Figaro, ossia la folle giornata , K. 492, is an opera buffa composed in 1786 in four acts by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, with Italian libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte, based on a stage comedy by Pierre Beaumarchais, La folle journée, ou le Mariage de Figaro .Although the play by...

. She has since returned to the Met as the Sandman in Engelbert Humperdinck

Engelbert Humperdinck

Engelbert Humperdinck was a German composer, best known for his opera, Hänsel und Gretel. Humperdinck was born at Siegburg in the Rhine Province; at the age of 67 he died in Neustrelitz, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania.-Life:After receiving piano lessons, Humperdinck produced his first composition...

's Hänsel und Gretel.