Jennifer Bird
American soprano Jennifer Bird enjoys a busy and varied singing career in the US and Europe, having built a reputation as a charismatic, intelligent and versatile performer of more than 50 roles in opera, operetta and musical theater, as well as much of the standard oratorio and concert literature.
As the recipient of a Rotary International Ambassadorial Scholarship, Jennifer studied in Germany in the Opernklasse of the Hamburg Musikhochschule, where she joined the vocal studio of renowned soprano Judith Beckmann. Soon thereafter she began singing at the Landestheater Coburg and then at the Bremer Theater where she became a pillar of the soloist ensemble, singing major roles in the lyric and lyric- coloratura soprano repertory and, in Coburg, twice earning the Audience Favorite Prize. Engagements followed at the Vienna Volksoper, Nationaltheater Mannheim, Theater Bonn, Theater Chemnitz, Theater Lübeck, Theater Würzburg and Theater Hagen, among others.
Highlights have included the title roles in Lulu and Lucia di Lammermoor, Ann Trulove in The Rake’s Progress, Pamina in Die Zauberflöte, Sophie in Der Rosenkavalier, Marguerite in Faust, Blanche in A Streetcar Named Desire, Nedda in I Pagliacci, Gilda in Rigoletto, Violetta in La traviata, Euridice in Orphée aux Enfers and Konstanze in Die Entführung aus dem Serail among many others. Much in demand as a recitalist and concert singer, Jennifer has been the soprano soloist in The Messiah with the Berlin Symphony Orchestra, in Dvořák’s Stabat Mater with the Bremer Philharmonic and in a Veteran’s Day concert with the US Army Band at Carnegie Hall. In 2008 Jennifer was invited to Brussels to perform with members of the Ictus Ensemble in honor of the 200th anniversary of Ricordi Publishing. She has been the featured soloist in gala concerts with the Stuttgart Philharmonic at the Stuttgart Konzerthalle and in Luxembourg with the Orchestra of the Warsaw Teatr Wielki. In 2010 she made her Alice Tully Hall debut in Orff’s Carmina Burana with the Riverside Choral Society. In 2012 Jennifer was the soprano soloist in the world premiere performances of Frank Ticheli’s Songs of Love and Life with conductor Allan McMurray. These songs have now been recorded and released on the Klavier label. Other recent concert seasons have included the soprano solos in Carmina Burana and Beethoven’s 9th Symphony with the Midland-Odessa Symphony, Mahler’s 2nd and 4th Symphonies with the Boulder MahlerFest, Mozart arias with the Colorado Symphony, and Beethoven’s Elegischer Gesang with the Takacs Quartet. The 2015-2016 season will include Messiah with the Boulder Philharmonic, Mozart’s Requiem with the Midland Odessa Symphony and Chorus, a new recording of David Kirtley’s Haiku Songs of Karigane with pianist Mutsumi Moteki, and a return to Lincoln Center for Poulenc’s Gloria with the Riverside Choral Society. Jennifer has been a prizewinner in several international competitions, including First Prizes in the Sylvia Geszty Competition, Elisa Meyer Competition, and the Robert Stolz Competition. She is a member of the voice faculty at the University of Colorado Boulder.