Jennifer
Rowley

Soprano, Jennifer Rowley is acclaimed worldwide for her unforgettable voice and remarkable stage presence. The past several seasons have introduced Ms. Rowley to new audiences across the globe, and she begins the 2023/24 season making her highly anticipated debut at the Bayerische Staatsoper with a concert performance of Zarzuela and Italian operatic favorites. She makes her debut at Opera Philadelphia, reprising the celebrated role of Amelia in Simon Boccanegra, and her debut at the Teatro Carlo Felice in the title role of Madama Butterfly under the baton of maestro Fabio Luisi, which she also sings at Opera Naples. She makes her role debut as Minnie in La Fanciulla del West at the Teatro Regio Torino under the baton of Francesco Ivan Ciampa, and reprises the role later in the season at the National Center for the Performing Arts in Beijing with maestro Daniel Oren in the pit. On the concert stage, she performs in China, South Korea, and at the Arena Sofia in Bulgaria. Additionally, she sings a Puccini concert marking the centennial celebrations in 2024 with Opéra de Tours in France and is the soprano soloist in Verdi’s Messa da Requiem with the Richmond Symphony.

Ms. Rowley’s 2022/23 season brought her debut at the Staatsoper Berlin Unter den Linden as Leonora in Il Trovatore, a revival of her celebrated portrayal as Valentine in Les Huguenots at the Semperoper Dresden, her role debut as Cio-Cio San in Madama Butterfly for Palm Beach Opera, as well as her role and theatre debut in the title role of Manon Lescaut with the Teatro Verdi Salerno. Her concert schedule included international debuts at the Aspendos Ruins and Theatre in Aspendos, Turkey, the Opera Royal de Wallonie Liege in Belgium, the Royal Opera Versailles in France, as well as a solo concert with Opera Naples. In addition, she performed concerts at L’Opèra Royal de Versailles, the Busan Cinema Center in South Korea, and on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, DC entitled “Rebuild Harmony” with Opera Italiana is in the Air.

During the 2021/22 season, she made her house debut at Opéra de Rouen in her signature role of Leonora in Verdi’s Il Trovatore in a modern production directed by Clarac and Deloeuil’s ‘Le Lab’, with a highly praised cinema and television broadcast across France. She returned to the Semperoper Dresden to star as the title role of Puccini’s Tosca, and reprised her critically celebrated Amelia Grimaldi in Verdi’s Simon Boccanegra at Opernhaus Zürich. Ms. Rowley also made her house and role debut as Hannah Glawari in Lehár’s The Merry Widow at Palm Beach Opera, for which critics raved about her performance of the famous ‘Vilja Lied’ writing that it “should be placed among the greatest performances of this aria.”

On the concert stage, Ms. Rowley performed concert performances of Tosca with the Israel Philharmonic led by maestro Zubin Mehta. She was the soprano soloist in Beethoven’s colossal Missa Solemnis with the Philadelphia Orchestra both in Philadelphia at the Kimmel Center, and New York City’s Carnegie Hall, conducted by Yannick Nézet-Séguin.

During the 2020/21 season, Ms. Rowley added another Verdi role to her growing list of repertoire, marking her role and house debut as Amelia in Andreas Homoki’s new production of Simon Boccanegra at Opernhaus Zürich. Her debut garnered international acclaim, with Opera News praising her “solid, commanding Amelia.” The opening night performance was streamed live from Zürich and later released on DVD in 2021. In addition, she sang her signature role of Tosca for her greatly anticipated house debut at Opéra de Marseille, with Ôlyrix calling her performance of “Vissi d’arte” “one of the most beautiful lyrical moments of this Marseille season.”

During the 2019/20 season, Ms. Rowley made her house and role debuts at the National Theatre Prague as Amelia in Verdi’s Un Ballo in Maschera, and at the Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona as the title role of Aida. Of her Aida, Platea Magazine praised her “phrasing, breath management, expressive force in the high notes and subtlety at important moments,” calling them “her best weapons.” In Prague, her portrayal of Amelia garnered critical acclaim from KlassikaPlus.Cz, saying she gave the role “a romantic expression with a great personal touch in both voice and acting, with vocal certainty,” and that Ms. Rowley is “undeniably a dramatic artist.” Other noteworthy performances include the title role of Adriana Lecouvreur, Tosca and Leonora in Il Trovatore at the Metropolitan Opera, as well as Leonora at Opera de Paris, and Maggio Musicale Florentino.

Audiences will remember Jennifer Rowley’s triumphant Metropolitan Opera role debut as Roxane in Alfano’s Cyrano de Bergerac (2017) with Roberto Alayna in the title role, which inspired universal critical praise. The New York Times raved that this was a “break-through moment,” further adding that for the heartbreaking final scene, “Ms. Rowley sang with an intensity of expression and a subtly embittered sound that suggested a singer for enormous gift and promise.” The New York Classical Review echoed these statements, also calling this “a break out night for Ms. Rowley.” Operawire called her Roxane “the heart of the production,” The Observer said she is “a superb artist,” while ConcertoNet called her Roxane “a revelation.” Ms. Rowley previously made her Metropolitan Opera stage debut in a sparkling portrayal of Musetta in La Bohème.

Ms. Rowley is an avid mentor to the next generation of opera’s young artists, taking the torch from her mentor Martina Arroyo. During the summer of 2022, she created and implemented her inaugural season of Jennifer Rowley’s Aria Bootcamp in Sarasota, FL, and holds an annual artist residency at her alma matter, Baldwin Wallace College Conservatory of Music. Ms. Rowley led an internationally acclaimed Virtual Artist Residency with Fort Worth Opera during the COVID-19 pandemic, where she held weekly themed Zoom masterclasses, engaging lectures, and casual Instagram Live chats with other singers, directors, coaches, and opera industry professionals. The success of that series led her to create an exclusive, six-week Virtual Audition Intensive.

Ms. Rowley’s calendar includes an active seminar and masterclass series for colleges and universities internationally. She has taught masterclasses and seminars for NATS NY and Tampa chapters, Penn State University, SUNY Potsdam, Bowling Green State University, the University of Miami, and for the young artist programs at Palm Beach Opera, Fort Worth Opera, and Toledo Opera. Ms. Rowley serves as voice faculty for several international festivals including Vincero Academy, Camerata Bardi Academy, as well as previously with the International Summer Opera Festival of Morelia, and Vienna Summer Music Festival.

Ms. Rowley is a highly-decorated soprano who has been recognised by many international competitions. She was awarded the 2012 Richard Tucker Career Grant, was one of the top prize winners in the 2013 Licia Albanese Puccini Foundation Competition and the 2011 Opera Index Vocal Competition, a winner of the 2011 William Mattheus Sullivan Musical Foundation awards, a first prize-winner of the 2011 Gerda Lissner Foundation International Vocal Competition, a grant winner of the 2011 Licia Albanese-Puccini Foundation Competition, and the winner of the 2010 Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions for the Michigan District.

Ms. Rowley holds a Master of Music degree from Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music and a Bachelor of Music degree from Baldwin Wallace College Conservatory of Music. She holds a Certificate of Performance Achievement from the Instituto Superior del Arte of the Teatro Colón, and was a Max Kade Scholar at Middlebury College’s German for Singers Program. Ms. Rowley serves as an advisory board member for Classical Singer Magazine.

August 2023

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