Jessica Niles

Noted for her “prodigious energy and clarity” American soprano Jessica Niles is quickly making a name for herself in the creation of new contemporary and baroque opera productions. Opening her 2024 season Niles made her house and title role debut in Handel’s Partenope in a new production by Julia Burbach at Frankfurt Oper. At La Monnaie / De Munt, Niles crafted and premiered the role of Sandra under the direction of Marie-eve Signeyrole in Bernard Foccroulle’s environmentalist opera Cassandra, delivering “a remarkable performance as Sandra, a touching and courageous figure to whom the soprano brings conviction, freshness, and profundity”(ConcertoNet). The success of the production brings Niles to reprise her role at the Berlin Staatsoper in June and July of 2025, and nomination for “Best World Premiere” at the International Opera Awards 2024. Niles returns to La Monnaie / De Munt in spring of 2025 to workshop and premiere I Grotteschi, distilled from L’Orfeo, Il ritorno d’Ulisse in patria and L’incoronazione di Poppea by Claudio Monteverdi with director Rafael R. Villalobos, conductor Leonardo García Alarcón and his ensemble Cappella Mediterranea (click here for more info). During her time at the Bayerische Staatsoper (opernstudio 2021-2023), Niles performed Iris in Claus Guth’s new production of Handel’s Semele where she “provided much of the show’s levity…through musical delivery and physical comedy” (New York Times), Sandrina in a new production of Haydn’s L’infedeltà delusa where she was hailed as the “highlight of the evening” (OperaOnline, ConcertoNet), and Schwester Jasmin in Georg Friedrich Haas’ overtone series opera Thomas. Recently, Niles made her Salzburger Festspiele debut as Alexandra in Krzysztof Warlikowski’s new production of Weinberg’s Der Idiot, and role debuts including Musetta in Juana Cano Restrepo’s production of La Bohème, Marzelline in Calixto Bieito’s production of Beethoven’s Fidelio and Ein Junger Hirt in Wagner’s Tannhäuser at the Bayerische Staatsoper. Further repertoire includes Susanna (Le Nozze di Figaro), Zerlina (Don Giovanni), Anne Reich (Die Lustigen Weiber von Windsor), Armida (Rinaldo), Clorinda (La Cenerentola), and una Voce dal Cielo (Don Carlos).

Lauded for her unconditional powerful playing as a vocal emotional force, Niles is a three-degree alum of The Juilliard School (Pre-College 2015, BM 2019, MM 2021) where she trained in Anne Bogart’s method of Physical Viewpoints, a technique that acts as a medium for thinking about and acting upon movement, gesture, and creative space. She was featured in the Internationale Händel-Festspiele reprising the sorceress Armida in Handel’s Rinaldo, where “in a series of intricate melismas, Niles took Handel’s music by the horns” in performance at Alice Tully Hall in New York City with Maestro Nicholas McGegan. With Maestro William Christie and Les Arts Florissants, Niles brought her concert-staged portrayal of Handel’s Aminta e Fillide to international stages, including the 40th annual Festival Dans les Jardins de William Christie, The Queen’s Theatre at The Royal Palace of Versailles, the Musée des Impressionnismes, Festival Castell de Peralada, and multiple venues across New York City. Niles has received prestigious awards for her leadership and vocal achievements including the 2023 Festspielpreis by the Gesellschaft zur Förderung der Münchner Opernfestspiele for her work at the Bayerische Staatsoper, multiple Juilliard commencement awards including the Peter Mennin Prize (2019) and the William Schuman Prize (2021) for her work during her time at Julliard, the Kovner Fellowship (2018-2021), and the Juilliard Vocal Arts Honors Recital (2020) with collaborative pianist Gracie Francis. Niles participated in the International Hugo Wolf Akademie art song competition 2024 with collaborative pianist Benjamin Mead (link for performance here).

During her time living in New York City, Niles began exploring using the operatic voice in contemporary and collaborative settings. On international tour with Les Arts Florissants, she met double-bassist and composer Doug Balliett premiered his chamber opera Gawain and the Green Night with baroque ensemble ACRONYM. In the following years, she regularly sang Balliett’s weekly-composed cantatas for St. Mary’s Church on Grand Street. Combining movement and voice, Niles performed Meredith Monk’s choreographed work “Wa-lie-oh” in recital at Juilliard coached by Janis Brenner, a member of Meredith Monk’s Vocal Ensemble from 1990-2005, and collaborated with dance company Alessandra Corona Performing Works (ACPW) performing a fusion of Handel’s Messiah with new choreography. In the visual arts, Niles collaborated with composer Manuel Sosa and painter Laura Karetzky in recording vocals for a new composition/art exhibition at Brooklyn’s BRIC House. Niles made her Carnegie Hall debut performing Handel’s Israel in Egypt featuring Syrian-Armenian visual artist Kevork Mourad, with New York Baroque Incorporated and MasterVoices among artists John Holiday and Mikaela Bennett. Finding a niche in dramatic chamber works, Niles regularly premiered her Juilliard colleagues’ compositions including her first commission “The Opposite of Loneliness: A Chamber Piece” for soprano and string quartet by Benjamin Wenzelberg, dedicated to the activist, playwright, journalist, and author Marina Keegan, and the song cycle “Open House” by composer and friend Jack Frerer to text by Beth Ann Fennelly.

my roots

Born in the Blue Ridge Region of Virginia, I began my musical studies at a young age playing piano, violin, and singing in local choirs where my love of ensemble music began. Mentored by my local choir directors, I had the opportunity to sing under the baton of Sir David Willcocks, at the Washington National Cathedral, with the Filene Center Orchestra at Wolf Trap, at Interlochen Arts Camp, and three seasons with the Fairfax Choral Society. My desire to study music more seriously brought me to study at Juilliard’s Pre-College Division in New York City with Lorraine Nubar. There I heard opera for the first time, traded my violin for classical voice, and began to pursue vocal performance as my primary study. During this time I received awards in local, state, and national classical competitions including being named a YoungArts Foundation finalist, placing 1st in the state of Virginia Lions Club Bland Competition, and receiving a grant from the George London Foundation. In my hometown of Alexandria, Virginia I continued singing regularly in concert choirs and as a soloist, performing sacred and secular repertoire including Rutter’s Requiem. And in New York City I performed my first operatic role, Belinda in Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas, with New York Lyric Opera at Lincoln Center. After three years of study in the Pre-College at Juilliard and three summers studying with pianist Dalton Baldwin at the International Academie d’eté de Nice, I graduated with honors from my local high school and the Juilliard Pre-College Division, and moved to New York City to be a full-time student at Juilliard. During the time of my undergraduate degree I spent three magical summers as a student of Marlena Malas at Chautauqua Institution working closely with director and educator John Giampietro, beginning my journey as a singing-actor. At Opera Theatre of St. Louis, I covered my role models Monica Dewey as Susanna in Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro and Julia Bullock in the premiere Terence Blanchard’s Fire Shut Up In My Bones, and performed my first Susanna (Le Nozze di Figaro) under the direction of the late Ed Berkeley and the baton of Dame Jane Glover at Aspen Music Festival.