Jennifer Lane, mezzo-soprano

Mezzo-soprano Jennifer Lane is “a singer whose dark, bottomless voice is matched by her expressiveness and intelligence.” The press has described her singing as “clear, rich, plangent,” “compelling and dramatic,” and possessing “agility and charisma.” She has been featured by many of the most prestigious institutions and orchestras in the US and abroad. These include the Metropolitan Opera, New York City Opera, San Francisco Opera, Opéra Monte Carlo, and the San Francisco Symphony, as well as with orchestras and period instrument ensembles in the US, Europe, South America, and the Middle East.

In addition to her position as Associate Professor of Voice, Opera, and Early Music at the University of Kentucky-Lexington, she teaches regularly at the Amherst, SFEMS, Lake Placid, Longy, and Madison summer workshops, among others. For nine years, she taught at Stanford University, where she produced and directed seven fully staged operas and instituted an early music vocal and instrumental Collegium which, in its third year, performed Shadwell & Dryden’s The Tempest.

Ms. Lane has over forty CD recordings to her name as well as two films: Dido & Aeneas (with the Mark Morris Dance Group and Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra) and The Opera Lover. Recent CDs include Jocasta in Sravinsky’s Oedipus Rex, Waldtaube in Schoenberg’s Gurrelieder, Schoenberg’s Das Buch der Hängenden Gärten (Naxos), The Pleasures & Follies of Love, Villancicos y Cantadas (Koch), and 17th Century French Airs de Cour (Magnatune).

In June, 2005, she was the vocal soloist for the marriage ceremony of Oakland Mayor Jerry Brown, former Governor of California. Later this season, she will perform the contralto solos in Brahms’ Alto Rhapsody (Lexington Philharmonic) and Mahler’s Song of the Earth (Vancouver). In November, 2006, Ms. Lane will premiere the lead female role of Charmian London opposite baritone Rodney Gilfrey in Everyman Jack, in a newly commissioned opera by Phillip Littell and Libby Larson for Sonoma City Opera, about the life of author and adventurer, Jack London.

Visit Jennifer Lane's website at jenniferlanemezzosoprano.com.