Jennifer France
Soprano
Winner of the 2018 Critics' Circle Emerging Talent Award, British soprano Jennifer France was described in Whats On Stage as the 'living jewel in opera's crown'.
22/23 plans include Zerbinetta for Garsington Opera and Opera North, and a return to the English National Opera for her role debut as Mary in Jake Heggie's It's A Wonderful Life. Concert plans include Britten's Les Illuminations and Brett Dean's And Once I Played Ophelia with the Swedish Chamber Orchestra, Dutilleux's Correspondances and Walker's Li/acs with the London Philharmonic Orchestra and Edward Gardner, Christus am 0/berge with the Bergen Philharmonic and Sir Mark Elder and the world premiere of Brett Dean's In This Brief Moment with the CBSO and Nick Collon.
Her 21/22 season included house debuts at the Bayerische Staatsoper Munich as Zerbinetta Ariadne auf Naxos and the Aix en-Provence Festival as Beatrice in the world premiere of Pascal Dusapin's // viaggio, Dante, as well as First Niece in Deborah Warner's Peter Grimes for the Royal Opera House. On the concert platform she sang Bella The Midsummer Marriage with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, Pergolesi Stabat Mater with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Handel Messiah with Huddersfield Choral Society and Royal Northern Sinfonia and New Year Concerts with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra.
Jennifer's operatic roles include the title role in The Cunning Little Vixen for Opera Holland Park, Alice in Gerald Barry's Alice's Adventures Under Ground and Lessons in Love and Vt'o/encefor The Royal Opera House, La Princesse in Philip Glass' Orphee for ENO, the title role of Seme/e at the Badisches Staatstheater Karlsruhe, Ophelia in Brett Dean's Hamlet for Glyndebourne On Tour, Marzelline Fidelio, Susana Nozze and La Princesse Elsbeth Fantasia for Garsington Opera, Le Feu/Le Rossignol L'enfant et /es sort11eges in concert with the BBC Symphony Orchestra, Lessons in Love and Violence for Dutch National Opera and Zerbinetta at the Nederlandse Reisopera, where she was nominated for a Schaunard Award.
She was an Emerging Artist at Scottish Opera where her roles included Dalinda Ariodante, Despina Casi fan tutte, The Controller Flight, Giulia La sea/a di seta, Zerbinetta and the role of Ice which she created in Stuart MacRae's Anthropocene.
A prolific concert artist, she has sung Gerald Barry's The Eternal Recurrence and Beethoven Symphony No. 9with the Britten Sinfonia, Elgar Une voix dons le desert with the Halle, Handel arias with the Academy of Ancient Music, Dixit Dominus at the International Handel Festival Karlsruhe, Mahler Symphony No. Bwith the Philharmonia Orchestra, Mozart Requiem with the London Mozart Players & Carmina Burana with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. She made her BBC Proms debut in 2017 and Salzburg Festival debut in 2019 singing Pascal Dusapin's Medeamateria/with the Akademie fur Alte Musik Berlin.
Winner of the Song Prize at the 2014 Kathleen Ferrier Awards and the 2014 Leonard Ingrams Award from Garsington Opera, her recordings include Barry's The Eternal Recurrence and Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 (Signum), Lessons in Love and Vt'o/ence (Nimbus & Opus Arte), II Vo!ogeso (Signum), Debussy Songs - Vol. 3& 4with Malcolm Martineau (Hyperion) and Elgar's Une voix dons le desert (Halle).