Jennifer Wilson
Encyclopedia
Jennifer Wilson is an American soprano known especially for her Wagnerian opera roles. She is the daughter of Newton Wilson (son of the late Frontier Airlines
co-founder Raymond Wilson) and Katherine Still. The daughter, granddaughter and niece of professional singers, instrumentalists and music educators, Wilson grew up steeped in music from opera and oratorio to rock 'n' roll and bluegrass. She began tap dance lessons at age 3, ballet at 8, piano at 10, and solo classical singing at 12. Wilson attended Cornell University
for several years, eventually departing on a leave of absence which she filled with advanced training in acting, languages, and vocal studies with former Metropolitan Opera
coloratura soprano Marilyn Cotlow
. During this time, Wilson supported herself as a news bureau assistant and wire editor for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. The consolidation of US international broadcast services in 1995 caused Wilson to lose her position with RFE/RL, forcing her to find other employment. At this point she took up singing full time, though her breakthrough to the elusive ranks of international soloist was still several years away.
with the Connecticut Opera
in 2002. Prior to this she had spent much of her career in the chorus of opera houses such as Washington Opera or as an understudy. Following this debut, she went on to take a number of major roles in the US although initially often appearing at short notice when the scheduled artist was unable to appear. Such roles included:
It was not until the 2004/2005 season, when, as an understudy, she took over from Jane Eaglen
, due to illness, as Brünnhilde in Wagner's Götterdämmerung
at the Lyric Opera of Chicago, that domestic and international success was to begin. Anne Midgette
notes that Wilson's acclaimed performance in this role was made more remarkable by the fact that she had sung Brünnhilde in Die Walküre
(in rehearsal) the previous day. Midgette noted' "Few people today have the vocal heft and stamina to get through even one of these roles, let alone take on both back to back." In the same season, she was to make her European operatic debut in Robert Wilson
's production of Die Walküre at the Théâtre du Châtelet
in Paris.
For the 2006/2007 season she began a multi-season performance in a major, and internationally acclaimed, staging of Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen
conducted by Zubin Mehta
in Spain, in what has become known as the "Valencia Ring". Here, she reprised her role of Brünnhilde appearing in Die Walkuere, Siegfried
and Götterdämmerung
and thus completing her first Ring Cycle.
The 2008/2009 season saw Wilson make her debut in yet another Wagnerian leading role as Senta in The Flying Dutchman
for Washington National Opera
(she had previously sang with the company in the chorus). During this season she also made her Royal Opera House
, Covent Garden, debut as Turandot
The 2009/2010 season saw Wilson debut as Aida
for Opera Australia
(Australia's national opera company). She is to repeat this role, returning to Valencia's Palau de les Arts (where she performed in the La Fura dels Baus Ring Cycle) under Zubin Mehta
. She performed as Gutrune in Götterdammerung in Los Angeles Opera
's controversial new Ring Cycle. She will also be giving major concert performances in New Orleans, Montreal
and Tel Aviv
. 2009 also saw Wilson take on yet another Wagnerian role when she stepped in to replace Deborah Voigt
as Isolde in Lyric Opera of Chicago
's revival of the David Hockney
production of Tristan und Isolde
Wilson later repeated her Isolde in the Hockney production in Barcelona, under the baton of Sebastian Weigle. Isolde was also the role of her debuts at Oper Leipzig
and the Hong Kong International Arts Festival in 2011.
Richard Strauss
: Four Last Songs
, Beethoven: 9th Symphony, Verd
i: Requiem, Mahler: 8th Symphony together with works by Duruflé, Haydn, Saint-Saëns and Vaughan Williams. Wilson's European orchestral solo debut took place in 2005, singing the four leading soprano roles in Erwin Schulhoff
's opera Flammen
, in a live broadcast from Amsterdam's Concertgebouw, with the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra under Edo de Waart
. In 2009 she made her debut in another Wagnerian role as Elisabeth in the Montreal Symphony Orchestra
's concert performance of Tannhäuser
conducted by Kent Nagano
Wilson returned to the Montreal Symphony Orchestra in 2009 for Mahler's 8th Symphony and in 2010 for Beethoven's 9th Symphony. She has performed the soprano solo role in the Verdi Requiem with Master Chorale of Washington
and with the New Orleans Opera
. 2011 saw her debut as Tove
in Gurre-Lieder
by Arnold Schoenberg
, with Mehta and the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra
, in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, a performance recorded for eventual commercial CD release.
Frontier Airlines
Frontier Airlines, Inc., is an American airline headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana, United States. The carrier, which is a subsidiary and operating brand of Republic Airways Holdings, operates flights to 83 destinations throughout the United States, Mexico, and Costa Rica and maintains hubs at...
co-founder Raymond Wilson) and Katherine Still. The daughter, granddaughter and niece of professional singers, instrumentalists and music educators, Wilson grew up steeped in music from opera and oratorio to rock 'n' roll and bluegrass. She began tap dance lessons at age 3, ballet at 8, piano at 10, and solo classical singing at 12. Wilson attended Cornell University
Cornell University
Cornell University is an Ivy League university located in Ithaca, New York, United States. It is a private land-grant university, receiving annual funding from the State of New York for certain educational missions...
for several years, eventually departing on a leave of absence which she filled with advanced training in acting, languages, and vocal studies with former 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...
coloratura soprano Marilyn Cotlow
Marilyn Cotlow
Marilyn Cotlow is an American lyric coloratura soprano best remembered for originating the role of Lucy in Gian Carlo Menotti's The Telephone. She sang professionally during the 1940s and 1950s in the United States and Europe, performing with such companies as the Metropolitan Opera...
. During this time, Wilson supported herself as a news bureau assistant and wire editor for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. The consolidation of US international broadcast services in 1995 caused Wilson to lose her position with RFE/RL, forcing her to find other employment. At this point she took up singing full time, though her breakthrough to the elusive ranks of international soloist was still several years away.
Professional opera career
Wilson made her professional debut relatively late at the age of 36 in the title role of Puccini's TurandotTurandot
Turandot is an opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini, set to a libretto in Italian by Giuseppe Adami and Renato Simoni.Though Puccini's first interest in the subject was based on his reading of Friedrich Schiller's adaptation of the play, his work is most nearly based on the earlier text Turandot...
with the Connecticut Opera
Connecticut Opera
Connecticut Opera was a professional, non-profit, opera company based in Hartford, Connecticut, and a member of OPERA America. The company presented three fully staged opera productions during an annual season. It was founded in 1942 under the directorship of Frank Pandolfi and was the sixth oldest...
in 2002. Prior to this she had spent much of her career in the chorus of opera houses such as Washington Opera or as an understudy. Following this debut, she went on to take a number of major roles in the US although initially often appearing at short notice when the scheduled artist was unable to appear. Such roles included:
- Turandot (Puccini), Houston Grand OperaHouston Grand OperaHouston Grand Opera Houston Grand Opera was founded in 1955 through the joint efforts of Maestro Walter Herbert and cultural leaders Mrs. Louis G. Lobit, Edward Bing and Charles Cockrell...
, 2003/2004 season - Brünnhilde (Wagner): Lyric Opera of ChicagoLyric Opera of ChicagoLyric Opera of Chicago is one of the leading opera companies in the United States. It was founded in Chicago in 1952, under the name 'Lyric Theatre of Chicago' by Carol Fox, Nicolà Rescigno and Lawrence Kelly, with a season that included Maria Callas's American debut in Norma...
, 2004/2005 season.
It was not until the 2004/2005 season, when, as an understudy, she took over from Jane Eaglen
Jane Eaglen
Jane Eaglen is an English dramatic soprano particularly known for her interpretations of the works of Richard Wagner and the title roles in Bellini's Norma and Puccini's Turandot.-Background:...
, due to illness, as Brünnhilde in Wagner's Götterdämmerung
Götterdämmerung
is the last in Richard Wagner's cycle of four operas titled Der Ring des Nibelungen...
at the Lyric Opera of Chicago, that domestic and international success was to begin. Anne Midgette
Anne Midgette
Anne Midgette is an American journalist and classical music critic. Her father was the painter Willard Midgette.Midgette is a 1986 graduate of Yale University. After university, she lived for 11 years in Munich, Germany, reviewing opera, music and art throughout Europe for The Wall Street...
notes that Wilson's acclaimed performance in this role was made more remarkable by the fact that she had sung Brünnhilde in Die Walküre
Die Walküre
Die Walküre , WWV 86B, is the second of the four operas that form the cycle Der Ring des Nibelungen , by Richard Wagner...
(in rehearsal) the previous day. Midgette noted' "Few people today have the vocal heft and stamina to get through even one of these roles, let alone take on both back to back." In the same season, she was to make her European operatic debut in Robert Wilson
Robert Wilson (director)
Robert Wilson is an American avant-garde stage director and playwright who has been called "[America]'s — or even the world's — foremost vanguard 'theater artist'". Over the course of his wide-ranging career, he has also worked as a choreographer, performer, painter, sculptor, video...
's production of Die Walküre at the Théâtre du Châtelet
Théâtre du Châtelet
The Théâtre du Châtelet is a theatre and opera house, located in the place du Châtelet in the 1st arrondissement of Paris, France.One of two theatres built on the site of a châtelet, a small castle or fortress, it was designed by Gabriel Davioud at the request of Baron Haussmann between 1860 and...
in Paris.
For the 2006/2007 season she began a multi-season performance in a major, and internationally acclaimed, staging of Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen
Der Ring des Nibelungen
Der Ring des Nibelungen is a cycle of four epic operas by the German composer Richard Wagner . The works are based loosely on characters from the Norse sagas and the Nibelungenlied...
conducted by Zubin Mehta
Zubin Mehta
Zubin Mehta is an Indian conductor of western classical music. He is the Music Director for Life of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra.-Biography:...
in Spain, in what has become known as the "Valencia Ring". Here, she reprised her role of Brünnhilde appearing in Die Walkuere, Siegfried
Siegfried (opera)
Siegfried is the third of the four operas that constitute Der Ring des Nibelungen , by Richard Wagner. It received its premiere at the Bayreuth Festspielhaus on 16 August 1876, as part of the first complete performance of The Ring...
and Götterdämmerung
Götterdämmerung
is the last in Richard Wagner's cycle of four operas titled Der Ring des Nibelungen...
and thus completing her first Ring Cycle.
The 2008/2009 season saw Wilson make her debut in yet another Wagnerian leading role as Senta in The Flying Dutchman
The Flying Dutchman (opera)
Der fliegende Holländer is an opera, with music and libretto by Richard Wagner.Wagner claimed in his 1870 autobiography Mein Leben that he had been inspired to write "The Flying Dutchman" following a stormy sea crossing he made from Riga to London in July and August 1839, but in his 1843...
for Washington National Opera
Washington National Opera
The Washington National Opera is an opera company in Washington, D.C., USA. Formerly the Opera Society of Washington and the Washington Opera, the company received Congressional designation as the National Opera Company in 2000. Performances are now given in the Opera House of the John F...
(she had previously sang with the company in the chorus). During this season she also made her Royal Opera House
Royal Opera House
The Royal Opera House is an opera house and major performing arts venue in Covent Garden, central London. The large building is often referred to as simply "Covent Garden", after a previous use of the site of the opera house's original construction in 1732. It is the home of The Royal Opera, The...
, Covent Garden, debut as Turandot
Turandot
Turandot is an opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini, set to a libretto in Italian by Giuseppe Adami and Renato Simoni.Though Puccini's first interest in the subject was based on his reading of Friedrich Schiller's adaptation of the play, his work is most nearly based on the earlier text Turandot...
The 2009/2010 season saw Wilson debut as Aida
Aida
Aida sometimes spelled Aïda, is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Antonio Ghislanzoni, based on a scenario written by French Egyptologist Auguste Mariette...
for Opera Australia
Opera Australia
Opera Australia is the principal opera company in Australia. Based in Sydney, its performance season at the Sydney Opera House runs for approximately eight months of the year, with the remainder of its time spent in the The Arts Centre in Melbourne...
(Australia's national opera company). She is to repeat this role, returning to Valencia's Palau de les Arts (where she performed in the La Fura dels Baus Ring Cycle) under Zubin Mehta
Zubin Mehta
Zubin Mehta is an Indian conductor of western classical music. He is the Music Director for Life of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra.-Biography:...
. She performed as Gutrune in Götterdammerung in Los Angeles Opera
Los Angeles Opera
The Los Angeles Opera is an opera company in Los Angeles, California. It is the fourth largest opera company in the United States. The company's home base is the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, part of the Los Angeles Music Center.-Current leadership:...
's controversial new Ring Cycle. She will also be giving major concert performances in New Orleans, Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
and Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv , officially Tel Aviv-Yafo , is the second most populous city in Israel, with a population of 404,400 on a land area of . The city is located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline in west-central Israel. It is the largest and most populous city in the metropolitan area of Gush Dan, with...
. 2009 also saw Wilson take on yet another Wagnerian role when she stepped in to replace Deborah Voigt
Deborah Voigt
Deborah Voigt is an American operatic soprano. Voigt regularly performs in opera houses and concert halls worldwide.- Early life and education :...
as Isolde in Lyric Opera of Chicago
Lyric Opera of Chicago
Lyric Opera of Chicago is one of the leading opera companies in the United States. It was founded in Chicago in 1952, under the name 'Lyric Theatre of Chicago' by Carol Fox, Nicolà Rescigno and Lawrence Kelly, with a season that included Maria Callas's American debut in Norma...
's revival of the David Hockney
David Hockney
David Hockney, CH, RA, is an English painter, draughtsman, printmaker, stage designer and photographer, who is based in Bridlington, Yorkshire and Kensington, London....
production of Tristan und Isolde
Tristan und Isolde
Tristan und Isolde is an opera, or music drama, in three acts by Richard Wagner to a German libretto by the composer, based largely on the romance by Gottfried von Straßburg. It was composed between 1857 and 1859 and premiered in Munich on 10 June 1865 with Hans von Bülow conducting...
Wilson later repeated her Isolde in the Hockney production in Barcelona, under the baton of Sebastian Weigle. Isolde was also the role of her debuts at Oper Leipzig
Oper Leipzig
Oper Leipzig is an opera house and opera company in Leipzig, Germany.The Leipzig Opera traces its establishment to the year 1693, making it the third oldest opera venue in Europe after La Fenice and the Hamburg State Opera...
and the Hong Kong International Arts Festival in 2011.
Concert career
Like many successful operatic performers Wilson also maintains a successful concert career wherein she has performed:Richard Strauss
Richard Strauss
Richard Georg Strauss was a leading German composer of the late Romantic and early modern eras. He is known for his operas, which include Der Rosenkavalier and Salome; his Lieder, especially his Four Last Songs; and his tone poems and orchestral works, such as Death and Transfiguration, Till...
: Four Last Songs
Four Last Songs
The Four Last Songs for soprano and orchestra were the final completed works of Richard Strauss, composed in 1948 when the composer was 84. Strauss did not live to hear the premiere, given at the Royal Albert Hall in London on 22 May 1950 by the soprano Kirsten Flagstad accompanied by the...
, Beethoven: 9th Symphony, Verd
Verd
Verd is a settlement to the south of Vrhnika in the Inner Carniola region of Slovenia. The Verd viaduct on the A1 motorway from Ljubljana to Koper runs above the settlement....
i: Requiem, Mahler: 8th Symphony together with works by Duruflé, Haydn, Saint-Saëns and Vaughan Williams. Wilson's European orchestral solo debut took place in 2005, singing the four leading soprano roles in Erwin Schulhoff
Erwin Schulhoff
Erwin Schulhoff was a Czech composer and pianist.-Life:Born in Prague of Jewish-German origin, Schulhoff was one of the brightest figures in a generation of European musicians whose successful careers were prematurely terminated by the rise of the Nazi regime in Germany...
's opera Flammen
Flammen
Flammen is a one-act opera by Franz Schreker, on a libretto by Dora Leen, pseudonym of Dora Pollak .-Composition history:...
, in a live broadcast from Amsterdam's Concertgebouw, with the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra under Edo de Waart
Edo de Waart
Edo de Waart is a Dutch conductor, and the Music Director of both the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra and the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra....
. In 2009 she made her debut in another Wagnerian role as Elisabeth in the Montreal Symphony Orchestra
Montreal Symphony Orchestra
Orchestre symphonique de Montréal is a symphony orchestra based in Montréal, Québec, Canada, with Montréal's Place des Arts as its home.-History:...
's concert performance of Tannhäuser
Tannhäuser (opera)
Tannhäuser is an opera in three acts, music and text by Richard Wagner, based on the two German legends of Tannhäuser and the song contest at Wartburg...
conducted by Kent Nagano
Kent Nagano
__FORCETOC__Kent George Nagano is an American conductor and opera administrator. He is currently the music director of the Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal and the Bavarian State Opera.-Biography:...
Wilson returned to the Montreal Symphony Orchestra in 2009 for Mahler's 8th Symphony and in 2010 for Beethoven's 9th Symphony. She has performed the soprano solo role in the Verdi Requiem with Master Chorale of Washington
Master Chorale of Washington
The Master Chorale of Washington, formerly the Paul Hill Chorale, was a symphonic choir based in Washington, D.C., composed of approximately 126 auditioned volunteer choristers and twenty-four professional choristers. Its most recent music director was Donald McCullough.-History:The chorale was...
and with the New Orleans Opera
New Orleans Opera
Opera has long been part of the musical culture of New Orleans, Louisiana. Operas have regularly been performed in the city since the 1790s, and for the majority of the city's history since the early 19th century, New Orleans has had a resident company regularly performing opera in addition to...
. 2011 saw her debut as Tove
Tove
Tove is a Scandinavian given name which derives from the Old Norse name Tófa, a shortening of Thorfrithr, "beautiful Thor" or "peace of Thor." Tove is mostly a female name but occasionally masculine. Tove is also an alternative English spelling of the Hebrew female name that more commonly spelled...
in Gurre-Lieder
Gurre-Lieder
Gurre-Lieder is a massive cantata for five vocal soloists, narrator, chorus and large orchestra, composed by Arnold Schoenberg, on poems by the Danish novelist Jens Peter Jacobsen...
by Arnold Schoenberg
Arnold Schoenberg
Arnold Schoenberg was an Austrian composer, associated with the expressionist movement in German poetry and art, and leader of the Second Viennese School...
, with Mehta and the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra
Israel Philharmonic Orchestra
The Israel Philharmonic Orchestra is the leading symphony orchestra in Israel. It was originally known as the Palestine Orchestra, and in Hebrew as התזמורת הסימפונית הארץ ישראלית The Israel Philharmonic Orchestra (abbreviation IPO; Hebrew: התזמורת הפילהרמונית הישראלית, ha-Tizmoret ha-Filharmonit...
, in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, a performance recorded for eventual commercial CD release.
Principal roles
- Turandot: Turandot, Puccini
- Brünnhilde: Die Walküre, Wagner.
- Brünnhilde: Siegfried, Wagner.
- Brünnhilde: Götterdämmerung, Wagner.
- Gutrune: Götterdämmerung, Wagner.
- Aida: Aida Verdi.
- Senta: Der Fliegende Hollander, Wagner
- Isolde: Tristan und Isolde, Wagner
- Leonore: Fidelio, Beethoven
- Elisabeth: Tannhaueser, Wagner
Discography
- Richard Wagner: The Valencia Ring Die Walküre, Orquesta de la Comunitat Valenciana, Zubin Mehta (C Major) 2010. DVD/Blue-ray
- Richard Wagner: The Valencia Ring Siegfried, Orquesta de la Comunitat Valenciana, Zubin Mehta (C Major) 2010. DVD/Blue-ray
- Richard Wagner: The Valencia Ring Götterdämmerung, Orquesta de la Comunitat Valenciana, Zubin Mehta (C Major) 2010. DVD/Blu-ray
Awards and Grants
- Major grant from the Olga Forrai Foundation.
- 2003 Robert Lauch Memorial Grant from the Wagner Society of New York
- Liederkranz Foundation's Ethel Bleakley Daniels Award for Wagnerian Voices.
- Evelyn Lear and Thomas Stewart Emerging Singers Career Grant from the Wagner Society of Washington