Jennifer Zetlan

Soprano Jennifer Zetlan is internationally recognized for her artistry and captivating stage presence, known for being “persuasive and powerful”, “flawless” (The New York Times), and a “tour de force” (Wall Street Journal). Highlighted recent engagements include portraying Eurydice in the deaf opera project Orpheus & Erica with Victory Hall Opera, Trujamán in Manuel de Falla’s El retablo del maese Pedro at the Kennedy Center with PostClassical Ensemble, and joining American Lyric Theater for their popular InsightALT series as Tzeitl in Tevye’s Daughters and Madame Alice in Working for the Macbeths. Additionally, she gave the world premiere of Tribute to the Angels, a piece written for her by Louis Karchin with the Talea Ensemble and appeared at the New Voices Festival with the Brooklyn Art Song Society and the Riverside Orchestra, singing Barber’s Knoxville: Summer of 1915. Thrilling upcoming engagements include performances with Music in the Vineyards, the Brooklyn Art Song Society, and the Cecelia Chorus of New York.

Ms. Zetlan took part in numerous pandemic-based projects, including a multi-continent live Zoom performance of Noor Inayat Khan’s Aède of the Ocean and Land presented by the Center for Contemporary Opera and a phone-opera-for-one production of To My Distant Beloved with On Site Opera.  She was also on the Metropolitan Opera roster covering in productions of Matt Aucoin’s Eurydice and Glass’ Akhnaten.

The 2019-2020 season included the reprise of her role as Ellen in Ellen West (Ricky Ian Gordon/Frank Bidart) with the Prototype Festival, and a reprise the role of Ginsburg in Scalia/Ginsburg (Derrick Wang) with Opera Carolina and Opera Grand Rapids, and she was the cover of Queen Tye in Akhnaten(Glass) with the Metropolitan Opera. Other past season highlights include joining the San Francisco Symphony as Xenia in Boris Godunov (Michael Tilson Thomas, cond.), appearing as soprano soloist in Carmina burana with the Kansas City Symphony (Ryan McAdams, cond.), Fauré’s Requiem at The Cathedral of St. John the Divine (Kent Tritle, cond.), and Ginsburg in Scalia/Ginsburg with Opera Delaware (Sara Jobin, cond.).  Ms. Zetlan made her European debut at the Staatstheater Stuttgart in Purcell’s The Fairy Queen, created the title role in the world premiere of Jane Eyre by Louis Karchin with Center for Contemporary Opera, (studio recorded for Naxos), and concluded a run of Fiddler on the Roof (directed by Bartlett Sher) on Broadway. On the concert stage, she performed Kaija Saariaho’s Lonh with the New York Philharmonic at the Park Avenue Armory, sang Woglinde in Das Rheingold with the New York Philharmonic, sang the soprano solos in Bruckner’s Te Deum and Mozart’s Mass in c minor with Oratorio Society of New York at Carnegie Hall and on tour in Uruguay, and was heard at Carnegie Hall as a celebrated alumna of Mannes College of Music in their Centennial Celebration concert. She has also been heard in recital with pianist David Shimoni and composer Ricky Ian Gordon.

Known for her passion for contemporary music, Ms. Zetlan has been featured in the premieres of numerous American operas including Ellen West (Opera Saratoga),  Ned Rorem’s Our Town (Aspen Music Festival and Juilliard Opera Center), Rhoda and the Fossil Hunt (On Site Opera), Crossing(Matt Aucoin, ART in Boston and at BAM in New York), Steven Stucky and Jeremy Denk’s The Classical Style (Ojai Festival and Carnegie Hall), Morning Star (by Ricky Ian Gordon, Cincinnati Opera and On Site Opera), Nico Muhly’s Two Boys (The Metropolitan Opera), Nico Muhly’s Dark Sisters (Gotham Chamber Opera and Opera Philadelphia), Daron Hagen’s Amelia (Seattle Opera), arias from The Noblest Game (by David Diamond, Seattle Symphony), and Louis Karchin’s Jane Eyre. Other contemporary works include The Tempest Songbook (Purcell-Saariaho) with Gotham Chamber Opera, Ligeti’s Requiem (American Symphony Orchestra), Golijov’s 3 Songs for Soprano (Lexington Philharmonic), Tavener’s Requiem (St. Ignatius Loyola with Kent Tritle conducting), and Richard Ayres’ In The Alps with Alarm Will Sound for which the New York Times called her “flawless.”

At the Metropolitan Opera, Ms. Zetlan has been seen in productions of War and Peace (2nd French actress), Boris Godunov (Xenia), Le nozze di Figaro (bridesmaid), Macbeth (bloody child), and Two Boys (Rebecca). Favorite notable roles elsewhere include Gilda in Rigoletto (Seattle Opera and Crested Butte), Musetta in La bohème (Princeton Festival, Seattle Opera), Woglinde in Das Rheingoldand Götterdämmerung and The Forest Bird in Siegfried (Seattle Opera), Pamina in Die Zauberflöte(Charlottesville Opera, Nashville Opera), Sardula in Menotti’s The Last Savage (Santa Fe Opera), Madeline in The Fall of the House of Usher (Nashville Opera), Laoula in L’étoile (New York City Opera), and Nannetta in Falstaff (Juilliard Opera Center), among others.

Ms. Zetlan is a committed performer of orchestral works, and has performed with the New York Philharmonic, Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, Lexington Philharmonic, the Indianapolis Symphony, American Composers’ Orchestra, Juilliard Orchestra, Omaha Symphony, Baltimore Symphony, National Chorale, and has been heard at Carnegie Hall with Oratorio Society of New York, Musica Sacra, Alarm Will Sound, American Symphony Orchestra, MasterVoices, and the New York Youth Symphony.  Recognized as a unique recitalist, Ms. Zetlan was selected as a Marilyn Horne Foundation artist; she was heard in recital with her husband, pianist David Shimoni at Christ and St. Stephen’s Church in New York City as well as at Carnegie Hall’s Zankel Hall. Ms. Zetlan was awarded The Juilliard School Vocal Arts Honors Recital in Alice Tully Hall in 2012 also with Dr. Shimoni. The duo has given recitals for the Golandsky Institute, Foothills Music Festival, and the Artist Series of Sarasota. Ms. Zetlan has also given recitals with pianists Martin Katz and Ricky Ian Gordon and has released her first solo album in collaboration with Mr. Gordon at the piano. Ms. Zetlan is on the voice faculty of the Mannes College of Music.