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Jennifer Rivera has rapidly been earning recognition as a superb lyric mezzo soprano in both the United States and abroad. Her recent European debut as Sesto in La Clemenza di Tito with the Teatro Regio di Torino directed by Graham Vick and conducted by Roberto Abbado has led to future European engagements including a reprisal of the production at the Teatro Communale di Bologna in 2011. While still a student at Juilliard, Ms. Rivera was invited to join the roster of the New York City Opera, and after winning their prestigious Debut Artist of Year award, went on to sing several roles with the company including Cherubino in Le Nozze di Figaro, Rosina in Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Lazuli in L’Etoile, Hansel in Hansel and Gretel, and, Nerone in Handel’s Agrippina. Praised repeatedly by the New York Times for her “radiant mezzo soprano” (Elmer Gantry) , her “warm dark tone” (Barbiere), and “fresh ready singing”, (Hansel) her voice has also been described by the Times as being “dark, musical, and very agile”(Cenerentola) and possessing “richness, ease, and exactness” (L’Etoile).
Future engagements for the Mezzo Soprano include Rosina in Il Barbiere di Siviglia with Opera Pacific and Opera Tampa, Cenerentola with Florida Grand Opera, and Ines in Donizetti’s Maria Padilla with Washington Concert Opera. 2010 will see her French debut as Cecilio in a new production of Lucio Silla with Opera Nantes, which will also reprise in Angers and Rennes.
Also a favorite among living composers, Ms. Rivera created the starring role of Sharon Falconer in the critically acclaimed World Premiere of Robert Aldridge’s Elmer Gantry, which premiered at Nashville Opera in 2007. Additionally, Ms. Rivera has performed in four productions of Mark Adamo’s very successful opera Little Women (in New York, Tokyo, Cleveland, and Dayton), as well as his newest work Lysistrata.
Jennifer Rivera has garnered much acclaim for her portrayal of trouser roles in theaters throughout the world. She has sung Cherubino in Le Nozze di Figaro with New York City Opera, Opera Hong Kong, Cincinnati Opera, and Portland Opera, Hansel in Hansel and Gretel with NYCO and Opera Columbus, Lazuli in L’Etoile at NYCO and Cincinnati Opera, Achille in Handel’s Deidamia with Caramoor Music Festival, Siebel in Faust with Cincinnati Opera, and Stefano in Romeo et Juiliette with Madison Opera.
Another repertory in which Ms. Rivera excels is bel canto. She has interpreted Rosina in Il Barbiere di Siviglia with many companies including NYCO, Florentine Opera, Lyric Opera of Kansas City, and Dayton Opera, and has sung the title role in La Cenerentola with Opera de Colombia in Bogota, Lake George Opera, Gold Coast Opera, Columbus Opera, and The Juillard Opera Center.
Ms. Rivera’s concert work has included recitals with the Marilyn Horne Foundation in several venues throughout the U.S., a concert with Ms. Horne at Carnegie Hall, Hiller’s The Destruction of Jerusalem with the American Symhony Orchestra at Avery Fischer Hall, Mozart’s Mass in C and Bach’s B Minor Mass with the Berkshire Choral Festival, and The Mephisto Projec with the Opera Francais de New York.
Jennifer Rivera has received prizes in several competitions, including the Operalia Competition held in Madrid, Spain in which she was a finalist who performed in the Gala Concert conducted by Placido Domingo, the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions in which she was the winner of the Eastern Region and a national Semi-Finalist, the George London Foundation, the Opera Index Competition, The Gerda Lissner Foundation, The Joyce Dutka Arts Competition, The Licia Albanese Puccini Competition, and the Richard F. Gold Shoshana Foundation Career Grant from The Juilliard School. She attended Boston University for her undergraduate degree and Juilliard for her Master’s degree. She is a native of California, and currently resides in New York City.
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