Jill Gardner |
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Jill Gardner, soprano Soprano Jill Gardner is emerging as one of today's young singing actresses of exceptional promise. Noted for her "effortlessly produced, rich voice" (Opera News), the Syracuse Post-Standard recently states of her performance in The Merry Widow that "Jill Gardner's Hanna, the title character, stood head and shoulders above all the rest. She is a powerhouse yet often touching soprano, who moves as if she is floating and acts with more nuance than most opera singers." Jill Gardner's engagements in the 2008-09 season currently include her debut with Lyric Opera of Chicago as Nedda in I Pagliacci, Marguerite in Faust with Madison Opera, title role in Tosca in a return to Mercury Opera, Margaret Johnson in The Light in the Piazza at Piedmont Opera, and Brahms' Requiem with the Binghamton Philharmonic. In the 2007-08 season Ms. Gardner made several company debuts, including Florida Grand Opera in the role of Musetta in La bohème and Boston Lyric Opera as Mimi in La bohème, a role which she was recently called on to cover at the last minute for Lyric Opera of Chicago. She also debuted with Hawaii Opera Theatre as Countess Charlotte Malcolm in Sondheim's A Little Night Music, and appeared twice with Mercury Opera, first as Donna Anna in Don Giovanni and later as Mimi in Puccini's La Bohème. Other recent operatic credits include her return to Glimmerglass Opera as a principal artist to perform Eurydice in Orpheus in the Underworld, the role of Hanna Glawari in The Merry Widow with the Syracuse Opera, the title role in Susannah with New York Opera Projects, Mimi in La bohème with the Piedmont Opera Theatre and appearing as soloist in concerts with Opera Omaha. In the summer of 2006 Jill Gardner returned to the Glimmerglass Opera Young American Artist Program to create the role of Madame Loiseau in the world premiere of Stephen Hartke's The Greater Good (recorded for the Naxos record label). While at Glimmerglass Opera, Jill Gardner added two major roles to her repertoire through cover assignments: the tour-de-force role of Elle in Poulenc's La Voix humaine and the title role of Jenufa. Jill Gardner has appeared with Binghamton's Tri-Cities Opera in several leading roles including Cio-Cio San in Madama Butterfly, Violetta in La traviata, the Countess in Le nozze di Figaro, and the First Lady in Die Zauberflöte. She has also performed with the Greensboro Ballet in a concert version of Menotti's The Medium, and added the roles of Lauretta in Gianni Schicchi and Geraldine in Samuel Barber's A Hand of Bridge with A Singing Actor's Studio in Binghamton, New York. Ms. Gardner also performed the role of Madama Erlecca in Cimarosa's Li sposi per accidenti at Studio Lirico, in Cortona, Italy. Ms. Gardner has appeared in concert with the Syracuse Symphony Orchestra, the Binghamton Philharmonic, the Susquehanna Valley Chorale, Binghamton's Downtown Singers, Hamilton College and Community Chorale, and the Mostly Mozart Club of North Carolina in such repertoire as Handel's Messiah, Mozart's Mass in C Minor, Verdi's Requiem, Vaughan Williams's Hodie and A Sea Symphony, Orff's Carmina Burana, Bach's B Minor Mass, Beethoven's Mass in C Major and Missa Solemnis, and Mendelssohn's Elijah. Jill Gardner was the recipient of the Richard F. Gold Career Grant of the Shoshana Foundation-NYC, a Special Opportunity Award from the New York Foundation of the Arts, and an Emerging Artist Grant from the Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Division of the North Carolina Arts Council. In February 2004 Ms. Gardner participated in the Public Masterclass on Puccini Style for the George London Foundation with Catherine Malfitano. Jill Gardner received a Master of Music degree in vocal performance from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and a Bachelor of Music degree in piano performance from Centenary College of Louisiana. |