Jessica Rivera
soprano

Performance Dates
September 21/23 8:00 PM
September 24 3 :00 PM

JESSICA RIVERA, Soprano Hailed by the New York Times as a "vocally luminous young soprano," Jessica Rivera made her internationally acclaimed Santa Fe Opera debut in 2005 in Osvaldo Golijov's Ainadamar, a role she reprised for her debut with the Atlanta Symphony under Robert Spano last November and the Deutsche Grammophon recording, in the Peter Sellars staging at Lincoln Center last January, and in performances at the Barbican Centre in London and the Ojai and Ravinia Festivals. Her other operatic engagements last season included Lauretta in Gianni Schicchi and Sister Genovieffa in Suor Angelica with Opera Santa Barbara and Susanna in The Marriage of Figaro at Chautauqua Opera.

This November Ms. Rivera will create the role of Kumudha in the new John Adams opera A Flowering Tree, directed by Peter Sellars as part of his New Crowned Hope Festival in Vienna. She will also sing the role with the Berlin Philharmonic under Simon Rattle, the San Francisco Symphony under John Adams, the Barbican Centre, and Lincoln Center. Other future engagements include Handel's Messiah and Vivaldi's Gloria in December with the ASO, Hansel and Gretel with the Phoenix Symphony, Golijov's Pasión según San Marcos in Miami, and a solo recital at the newly restored Asolo Theatre in Sarasota.

In concert Ms. Rivera has performed with some of America's finest ensembles, including the Los Angeles Master Chorale and Hollywood Bowl Orchestra. A regular guest with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, she was featured in the orchestra's inaugural season at the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Haydn's Creation with conductor Esa-Pekka Salonen. She was also a finalist of Plácido Domingo's 2004 Operalia World Opera Contest.

As a member of Los Angeles Opera's prestigious Resident Artist Program, Ms. Rivera was praised by the New York Times for her work as Anastasia in the world premiere of Deborah Drattell's Nicholas and Alexandra. She has performed Susanna in Le nozze di Figaro, Rosina in Il barbiere di Siviglia, and roles in Peter Grimes, The Queen of Spades, Lohengrin, La traviata, The Merry Widow, Die Zauberflöte, Gianni Schicchi, Don Giovanni, and Nabucco under the batons of maestros Domingo, Rostropovich, Nagano, and Gergiev, among others. She has given numerous recitals throughout the United States, including her New York recital debut at Carnegie Hall's Weill Recital Hall.

Ms. Rivera's titles of distinction include Young Artist of the Year from the Los Angeles chapter of NATS and finalist awards in the 2003 Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, the 2002 Monte-Carlo Voice Masters Competition, and the 2002 Loren L. Zachary Competition. She holds degrees in music from the USC Thornton School of Music and Pepperdine University.


Last Updated: August 31, 2006
8/06, from website