Consistently lauded as a singer of rare expressive ability and versatility, soprano Jennifer Foster made her professional operatic debut by successfully stepping in at last-minute's notice as Fiordiligi in Mozart's Così fan tutte with the Los Angeles Music Center Opera. She was invited to become a resident artist with the Music Center Opera in subsequent seasons when she sang lead and comprimario roles. She then joined the company of San Francisco Opera's Western Opera Theater as Adele in Die Fledermaus for a 40-city national tour. Her 2003 Boston performances as Anne Trulove in Stravinsky's The Rake's Progress received wide critical praise. She recently appeared in her first Equity production as Nimue/Lady Anne in Camelot with Pennsylvania Centre Stage.
A sought-after performer in oratorio and concert, Jennifer has been featured at the Hollywood Bowl with the Los Angeles Philharmonic in performances of Mahler's Symphony No. 4, conducted by Esa-Pekka Salonen, and in Mozart's Le Nozze di Figaro, conducted by Lawrence Foster. She recently performed Brahms' A German Requiem with the Boston Cantata Singers under the baton of David Hoose, with whom she made her Tanglewood Festival debut singing the soprano solos in Vaughan-Williams' Dona Nobis Pacem. She has also appeared as a soloist with many national and regional orchestras and choral organizations including the New World Symphony, the New Haven, Stamford and Waterbury Symphonies, the Providence Singers, the Finger Lakes Chorale, Pacific Symphony, San Diego Symphony, San Francisco Choral Society, and the Los Angeles Mozart Orchestra, among others.
She is frequently invited to appear at major music festivals with world class artists. Engagements have included the Cabrillo Festival opposite Sanford Sylvan in a production of Lou Harrison's 12-tone one-act opera Rapunzel under the baton of Marin Alsop, the Colorado Summer Festival in Boulder, where she performed Samuel Barber's Knoxville: Summer of 1915, the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, the Hot Springs Festival, the Purdue Chamber Series, the Corona del Mar Baroque Festival, the Aldeburgh Festival in England, and the Verbier (Switzerland) International Festival, where she sang with the renowned Bobby McFerrin. She was featured with the Miami String Quartet at the 2005 Tucson Winter Chamber Music Festival, where she premiered a new commission for soprano and string quartet written for her by Lee Hoiby.
In addition to maintaining an active performing career, she is also an enthusiastic and inspirational voice teacher and performance coach. She currently serves on the faculty of the Weston Music Center and teaches private lessons to students of all ages. She has been invited to teach master classes in universities and music festivals.
Beyond her work in traditional classical fields, she has also studied and performed diverse styles including Broadway and vocal jazz. From 1997 to 2004 Jennifer served as soloist for The First Church of Christ, Scientist, in Boston and was heard internationally over the internet and on shortwave radio broadcasts each week.
Ms. Foster received a Bachelor of Music degree in vocal performance from Chapman College in southern California, where she studied with Janet Smith. She has also studied at the Britten-Pears School for Advanced Musical Studies in England, the American Center for Music Theater Training in Los Angeles in its Opera Intensive and Professional Music Theater Workshops, the Aspen Music Festival, and the Verbier Festival and Academy in Switzerland. She has been the recipient of numerous awards and distinctions including prizes from the Metropolitan Opera National Council's western and southeastern regions.
"Jennifer Foster: The Debut," a CD featuring Jennifer's live performances with world-class chamber musicians of several lesser known works, is available at www.arizonachambermusic.org. She can also be heard on the CD "Jubal-ation" from the Christian Science Publishing Society and on a CD of the music of Creole Romantic composers on the Naxos label. Her most recent release on the Capstone label features music of the Connecticut-based composer Allen Brings. She is currently collaborating with Dr. Brings to record several of Dave Brubeck’s sacred songs.