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Soprano Jennifer Bird has built an international reputation as a charismatic, intelligent and versatile performer of more than 50 roles in opera, operetta and musical theater, as well as much of the standard oratorio, concert and recital literature.

As the recipient of a Rotary International Ambassadorial Scholarship, Bird studied in Germany in the Opernklasse of the Hamburg Musikhochschule, where she joined the vocal studio of renowned soprano Judith Beckmann. Soon thereafter, she received her first Festkontrakt at the Landestheater Coburg and then at the Bremer Theater, where she became a pillar of the soloist ensemble, singing major roles in the lyric and lyric-coloratura soprano repertory and, in Coburg, twice earning the Audience Favorite Prize. Engagements followed at the Vienna Volksoper, Nationaltheater Mannheim, Theater Bonn, Theater Chemnitz, Theater Lübeck, Theater Würzburg and Theater Hagen, among many others. Highlights have included the title roles in “Lulu” and “Lucia di Lammermoor,” Ann Trulove in “The Rake’s Progress,” Pamina in “Die Zauberflöte,” Sophie in “Der Rosenkavalier,” Marguerite in “Faust,” Blanche in “A Streetcar Named Desire,” Gilda in “Rigoletto,” Violetta in “La traviata,” the Governess in “The Turn of the Screw,” and Konstanze in “Die Entführung aus dem Serail.”

Bird has been the soprano soloist in Handel’s “Messiah” with the Berlin Symphony Orchestra at the Konzerthaus am Gendarmenmarkt, in Dvořák’s “Stabat Mater” with the Bremer Philharmonic, and with the U.S. Army Band at Carnegie Hall in a Veterans Day concert emceed by Walter Cronkite. In 2008, she was invited to Brussels to perform with members of the Ictus Ensemble in honor of the 200th anniversary of Ricordi Publishing. She has been the featured soloist in gala concerts with the Stuttgart Philharmonic at the Stuttgart Konzerthalle and in Luxembourg with the Orchestra of the Warsaw Teatr Wielki. In 2010, she made her Alice Tully Hall debut in Orff’s “Carmina Burana” with the Riverside Choral Society. In 2012, she was the soprano soloist in the world premiere performances of Frank Ticheli’s “Songs of Love and Life” with conductor Allan McMurray, since recorded and released on the Klavier label. Highlights of recent seasons have included Mendelssohn’s “Elijah” in Cape Town, Mozart’s “Requiem” with the Midland-Odessa Symphony, Mahler’s Second and Fourth symphonies with the Boulder MahlerFest, Poulenc’s “Gloria” at Alice Tully Hall, Chausson’s “Chanson Perpétuelle” and Hindemith’s “Melancholie” with the Takács Quartet, Bach’s “St. Matthew Passion” with Central City Opera, Brahms’ “Requiem” with the Cheyenne Symphony Orchestra, and Mendelssohn’s “Midsummer Night’s Dream” with the Colorado Music Festival. Bird has been a prizewinner in several international competitions, including first prizes in the Sylvia Geszty Competition, Elisa Meyer Competition and the Robert Stolz Competition.

Bird holds a Bachelor of Music in vocal performance and a Bachelor of Arts in foreign languages from Southern Methodist University, as well as a Master of Music in vocal performance from the University of Michigan. As a member of the voice faculty at the ��ƷSM����ӰƬ, her students and former students perform regularly throughout the region, nationally and internationally — in leading and supporting roles in opera houses in Leipzig, Dresden, Innsbruck, Geneva and Paris; in prestigious young artist programs such as Central City, Des Moines, Music Academy, Opera North and Seagle; and as soloists with professional Baroque ensembles and regional symphonies, as well as in top-level professional ensembles including the Voces8 Scholars Program and the choruses of the Chicago Lyric Opera and Salzburg Festival.

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