Jessica Rivera Soprano

Hailed by the New York Times as a "vocally luminous young soprano," Jessica Rivera is quickly establishing herself as one of the most creatively inspired vocal artists of her generation. She made her critically acclaimed Santa Fe Opera debut in the summer of 2005 as Nuria in the world premiere of the revised edition of Osvaldo Golijov's Ainadamar. She reprised the role for the 2007 Grammy Award-winning Deutsche Grammophon recording of the work with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra under Robert Spano, and in the Peter Sellars staging at Lincoln Center in January 2006, as well as in performances at the Barbican Centre, and the Ojai and Ravinia Festivals. The artist's first performances of Margarita Xirgu in Ainadamar, a role created by Dawn Upshaw, occurred in the summer of 2007 at the Colorado Music Festival under the baton of Michael Christie.

Ms. Rivera joins the roster of the Metropolitan Opera in the current season for its new production of Doctor Atomic under the direction of Alan Gilbert. Other engagements of 2008-09 include concert performances of Doctor Atomic with Robert Spano and the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, El Niño with David Robertson and the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra, excerpts from Nixon in China with the Pittsburgh Symphony under the direction of John Adams, and A Flowering Tree both with the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra and the Los Angeles Philharmonic. She joins Miguel Harth-Bedoya and the Fort Worth Symphony as well as Michael Christie and the Phoenix Symphony for Mahler Symphony No. 4 and Bramwell Tovey and the Los Angeles Philharmonic as Micaëla, in a concert performance of Carmen at the Hollywood Bowl. Ms. Rivera also tours Spain in performances of Osvaldo Golijov’s celebrated La Pasión según San Marcos with the Schola Cantorum de Caracas.

Ms. Rivera holds numerous titles of distinction including finalist awards in Plácido Domingo's 2004 Operalia World Opera Contest, the 2003 Metropolitan Opera National Council, the 2002 Monte-Carlo Voice Masters Competition, the 2002 Loren L. Zachary Competition and Young Artist of the Year - First Place Winner by NATS, Los Angeles chapter. She received a Master of Music in Vocal Arts from the USC Thornton School of Music, and a BA in Music from Pepperdine University.

For additional information about Ms. Rivera, please visit www.jessicarivera.com.

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