Mezzo-Soprano

email

High res. photo
(518k, new window)

Résumé
(pdf, new window)

Bio
(pdf, new window)

To get Acrobat Reader for pdf files:

    Jenny Knapp, mezzo-soprano, has been praised by critics as “a strong singer and an empathetic actress” possessing “a beautiful voice, with a stylish sense of stage presence that is at once impassioned but poised”. “Her mezzo-soprano voice is gorgeous through its entire range.” Ms. Knapp was heard most recently as the alto soloist in Bellevue Philharmonic’s production of Handel’s Messiah, and as Cherubino in Washington East Opera’s 2008 performance of The Marriage of Figaro. A frequent guest of the Seattle Symphony, Ms. Knapp was heard this season as Jessie in their production of Kurt Weill’s The Little Mahagonny. With the Seattle Symphony, she was the soloist in the World Premiere of Bruce Ruddell’s The Healing Heart of Lushootseed, and portrayed the title character in Bizet’s Carmen. She was the featured soloist in Falla’s El Amor Brujo as well as his Three-Cornered Hat with Gerard Schwarz. For two seasons, Ms. Knapp starred as the Mother in the Symphony’s production of Menotti’s Amahl and the Night Visitors.
    Ms. Knapp is a versatile performer who has performed extensively with opera companies throughout the region, including Tacoma Opera, Washington East Opera, Skagit Opera, Opera Pacifica, Lyric Opera Northwest, Off-Center Opera, Rogue Opera, NOISE, University of Washington Opera, and Rainier Lyric Opera. Her operatic credits include Cherubino in Le Nozze di Figaro, Charlotte in Werther, Suzuki and Kate Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly, Santuzza in Cavalleria Rusticana, Carmen and Mercedes in Carmen, Hansel and the Mother in Hansel and Gretel, The Mother in Amahl and the Night Visitors, Dorabella in Cosi Fan Tutte, The Third Lady and The First Lady in The Magic Flute, Dame Quickly in Falstaff, Michelle Ravel in John Duffy’s Black Water, Cecily in La Divina, and Clara Deluso in Signor Deluso. Later this season, she will reprise the role of Carmen with Opera Pacifica.
    On the concert stage, Ms. Knapp was most recently heard as the alto soloist in Bach’s Mass in B Minor with Kirkland Choral Society. Also with Kirkland Choral Society, she has performed the role of Mary in Respighi’s Laud to the Nativity, and will return this season to sing the alto solos in both Haydn’s Nelson Mass and Mendelssohn’s Lobgesang (Symphony #2). She recently appeared as the alto soloist in both Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony and Falla’s Three Cornered Hat with Port Angeles Symphony. Other concert appearances include the alto soloist in Mozart’s Missa Brevis, the Angel and the Queen in Mendelssohn’s Elijah, and the alto soloist in Mozart’s Requiem and Dvorak’s Stabat Mater with the Northwest Symphony Orchestra and Choral Sounds Northwest. Ms. Knapp will appear this season with Cascade Symphony as the alto soloist in Verdi’s Requiem.
    In recording, Ms. Knapp can be heard as the alto soloist in Kirkland Choral Society’s 2008 recording of the Bach Mass in B Minor, and on Matt Messina’s 2000 album from Sapristi Productions, The Boy Who Held the World in the lyrical song “Adonde Fuiste”.
    Ms. Knapp earned her Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and studied in the Master’s program in music at the University of Washington. She currently resides in Renton, WA and is part of the musicians’ collective Northwest Artists.