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The American soprano, Jeni Houser, obtained her Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Music degrees in English and Music Education from Lawrence University; and her Master of Music degree in Voice Perfirmance from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. She won 2nd place at the Nicholas Loren Vocal Competition in 2014. She was a district winner and regional finalist in the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions in 2013 and 2011 after earning an encouragement award in 2010, and was a national semifinalist in the NATS Artist Award Competition in 2010.
During two summers with the Glimmerglass Festival, Jeni Houser sang Königin der Nacht in the young artist performance of W.A. Mozart's Die Zauberflöte and Najade in Ariadne auf Naxos, in addition to joining the company for its production of Leonard Bernstein's Candide. She joined Lyric Opera of Chicago’s Lyric Unlimited for The Magic Victrola, in which she sang Olympia’s aria from Les contes d’Hoffmann. She sang Josephine in H.M.S. Pinafore with Opera Saratoga, Frasquita in Georges Bizet's Carmen with Virginia Opera; and Najade in Ariadne auf Naxos with Fort Worth Opera and Berkshire Opera.
Jeni Houser has sung Zerbinetta in Ariadne auf Naxos with Austin Opera (February 2018) and Minnesota Opera; at the latter, she also sang Susanna in W.A. Mozart's Le nozze di Figaro (November 2017), the Charmeuse in Thaïs (May 2018), and Mrs. Grady in the world premiere of Paul Moravec’s The Shining (2015-2016). With Madison Opera, she has previously sung Olympia in Les contes d’Hoffmann, Johanna in Sweeney Todd, Anne Egerman in A Little Night Music (February 2019), and Amy in Adamo’s Little Women. She has sung further performances of Johanna in Sweeney Todd with Mill City Summer Opera and Baltimore Concert Opera (February 2018). She joined On Site Opera as Susanna in Marcos Portugal’s Le nozze di Figaro in her New York City debut, Odyssey Opera in Boston as Cecily in Castelnuovo-Tedesco’s The Importance of Being Earnest, and Fort Worth Opera as Viv in the premiere of Rachel Peters’ Companionship (May 2019). On the concert stage, she has sung Orff’s Carmina Burana with Madison Symphony, Las Vegas Philharmonic (April 2018), and Atlanta Ballet and Johannes Brahms’ Ein deutsches Requiem, Haydn’s Creation, and W.A. Mozart's Requiem with Abendmusik: Lincoln (Nebraska).
Jeni Houser recently made debuts with the Metropolitan Opera (January 2020), Los Angeles Opera (November-December 2019)), and Dallas Opera (October-November 2019) as Königin der Nacht in Die Zauberflöte, a role she has also sung to great acclaim with Minnesota Opera, Cincinnati Opera, Central City Opera (July-August 2018), and Kentucky Opera (September 2018). She returned to the Dallas Opera stage as the title role in The Golden Cockerel (October-November 2019). With the Wiener Staatsoper, she made her international debut as Frantzi in the world premiere of Johannes Maria Staud’s Die Weiden (December 2018), after which she joined the company for its productions of Die Zauberflöte and Trojahn’s Orest.
Opera News lauds Jeni Houser’s performances as “commanding and duplicitous, yet also vulnerable. She has a bright future above the staff.” Last season (2021-2022), she made her role debut as Lucia di Lammermoor in a return to Madison Opera (November 2021) and repeated the role at the Seoul Arts Center (March 2022). She also reprised her sought-after interpretation of Königin der Nacht in Die Zauberflöte in her debut with the Opera Theatre of Saint Louis (May-June 2022) and returned to the Metropolitan Opera for the same title (December 2022-January 2023). In the 2022-2023 season, she joins the Madison Symphony and the Florida Philharmonic for Orff’s Carmina Burana (March 2023), returns to the Metropolitan Opera for its production of Die Zauberflöte (December 2022-January 2023), and joins the Omaha Symphony for excerpts from the same show (March 2023). |
