Jennifer Johnston (mezzo-soprano)
Jennifer Johnston is an English operatic mezzo-soprano. Born in Liverpool, she studied law at the University of Cambridge and worked in London chambers as a barrister before studying opera at the Royal College of Music.
A former BBC New Generation Artist, she made her professional debut as Humperdinck's Hänsel for Scottish Opera, followed by her international debuts at the Aix-en-Provence Festival as Dido in Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas, and at the Salzburg Festival as Carmi in Mozart's La Betulia Liberata; a performance which was recorded and released on DVD by Deutsche Grammophon. She is particularly associated with the Bayerische Staatsoper and its distinguished musical director Kirill Petrenko, where her roles have included Second Norn, Roßweise, Floßhilde, Hedwige and La Ciesca. She has appeared in opera at the Teatro alla Scala as Mrs Grose/The Turn of the Screw and Gaia/CO2, and at the Salzburg Festival as Carmi/La Betulia Liberata, Lady de Hautdesert/Gawain, and Leda/Die Liebe Der Danae.
A prolific concert performer, she has performed with many of the world's greatest orchestras and conductors, including Jocaste in Stravinsky's Oedipus Rex, Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis, Mahler’s Second Symphony, Mahler's Third Symphony, Elgar's Sea Pictures, Elgar’s The Dream of Gerontius, Verdi's Requiem, Schumann’s Das Paradies und die Peri, Adès's Totentanz, and Pasqualita in Adams' Doctor Atomic.
She made her solo recital debut at the Wigmore Hall accompanied by Joseph Middleton and broadcast live on BBC Radio 3. She is a founder member of The Prince Consort, with whom she has recorded for Linn Records, and has appeared in recital at Wigmore Hall, the Concertgebouw and the Aldeburgh Festival. Her extensive discography includes Anthony Payne's arrangement of Vaughan Williams's Four Last Songs with the BBC Symphony Orchestra under Martyn Brabbins for Albion Records, which she premiered at the BBC Proms and which was nominated for a Grammy Award.
