Mezzosoprano Jennifer Roderer

Mezzo-soprano Jennifer Roderer's portrayal of Amneris in Aida at Berkeley Opera was hailed as an “absolute standout” and the San Francisco Chronicle lauded her “plush tone”, “fierce dramatic instincts” and “dazzling account of the opera’s last act.” She begins the 2007/8 season with performances of the Witch in Hansel and Gretel at both Opera Company of Philadelphia and Opera Roanoke. Last season, her back-to-back successes as the Witch in Hansel and Gretel with both New York City Opera and the Phoenix Symphony affirmed her unique flair for creating larger-than-life characters. Since her 1999 debut at City Opera, she has embodied a diverse gallery of vivid personalities both comic and serious, including Lady Angela in Patience, Junon in Mark Morris’ production of Plateé, Jade Boucher in Dead Man Walking, the Third Lady in The Magic Flute, and Sappho in Lysistrata, as well as Cecilia March in Little Women on NYCO’s first tour of Japan. Other recent roles have ranged from Offenbach’s zany Théodorine(L’isle de Tulipatan at Bard Summerscape).and his formidable Public Opinion (Orpheus in the Underworld for (Nevada Opera), in which she was

praised as“terrific” with “no inhibitions”, to Britten’s troubled Mrs. Grose in The Turn of the Screw at Toledo Opera, Lorin Maazel’s Chateauville Foundation, and Lyric Opera of Kansas City, where she was praised as “vocally resplendent”, singing with “physical, dramatic and vocal strength”. In 2005, Ms. Roderer made a critically acclaimed debut at the Teatro Colòn in Buenos Aires as Fricka in Die Walküre, conducted by Charles Dutoit. Her other Wagnerian credits include Waltraute in Die Walküre for Lyric Opera of Chicago and Seattle Opera, Rossweise in Die Walküre at Opera Pacific, and a Flowermaiden in Parsifal with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, conducted by Pierre Boulez, as well as several concerts of orchestral excerpts from Lohengrin (Ortrud), Sancta Susanna with the American Symphony Orchestra at Lincoln Center, Gertrude in Hänsel und Gretel with New Jersey Symphony, the Second Maidservant in Elektra at Los Angeles Opera and Washington National Opera, First Maidservant in Elektra at Virginia Opera, and Die Notarin in Intermezzo at Santa Fe Opera. In addition, she has won grants from the Wagner Societies of New York, Los Angeles, and Washington, DC. Ms. Roderer’s versatility extends well beyond the German repertory. She made her European debut at Opern Air Gars in Austria as Amneris in Aida, a role she has also sung for Opera Illinois and Berkeley Opera. She has also appeared as Emilia in Otello at Opera Pacific and l’Ostessa in Zandonai’s I Cavalieri di Ekebu with New York’s Teatro Grattacielo. She has become a favorite artist of many contemporary composers, participating in New York City Opera’s premieres of works by Mark Adamo and Jake Heggie and in its VOX: Showcasing American Composers program; frequently performing the microtonal works of John Eaton for organizations including the American Composer’s Alliance; and workshopping and covering the title role in the world premiere of Bright Sheng’s Madame Mao at Santa Fe Opera. Ms. Roderer brings her typical intensity, as well as dynamic musicianship, to her concert performances of such works as Verdi’s Requiem (with both the Hudson Valley Philharmonic and the Peoria Symphony, and upcoming at Arizona State University), Handel’s Messiah (under John Rutter at Carnegie Hall with the New England Symphonic Ensemble, with the Jacksonville Symphony, and the Mozart Club of Winston-Salem, North Carolina), and Bach’s B-minor Mass and Dvo€ák’s Requiem (both at the Berkshire Choral Festival). Much in demand on the concert platform, she has also sung Les noces with the Los Angeles Master Chorale, both at the Dorothy Chandeler Pavilion and under the baton of Peter Eötvös at the Ojai Festival, Mozart’s Requiem with the New Jersey Symphony and the Berkshire Lyric Theatre, Vivaldi’s Gloria at Carnegie Hall, Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis with the Anchorage Symphony; and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with Leonard Slatkin and the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl, as well as with the Jacksonville Symphony, Pacific Symphony, and Florida Symphony. Ms. Roderer has given New York recitals under the auspices of the Wagner Society of New York and the Austrian Cultural Forum. She has won grants from the William Matheus Sullivan Musical Foundation and Opera Buffs of Southern California, as well as the Arthur E. Walters Memorial Award from Opera Index and First Place in the Opera Guild of Southern California Competition. Born in Illinois and raised in Los Angeles, she holds a Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Southern California.


August 2007

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