‹ Biography ›

American mezzo-soprano Kristine Jepson has appeared at the Metropolitan Opera, Teatro alla Scala, Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie, Opéra National de Paris, Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Bavarian State Opera, Gran Teatro del Liceu, Netherlands Opera, San Francisco Opera, Canadian Opera Company, and Santa Fe Opera Festival, among other companies.

Highlights this season include Ms. Jepson’s debut at the Theater an der Wien as Sister Helen Prejean in Jake Heggie’s Dead Man Walking, Octavian (Der Rosenkavalier) at Teatro Carlo Felice in Genova and Adalgisa (Norma) with the Opera Company of Philadelphia.

Ms. Jepson made her Metropolitan Opera debut in Britten’s Death in Venice and has since returned to the company in many roles, including Stephano in Romeo et Juliette, Cherubino in Le Nozze di Figaro, Octavian in Der Rosenkavalier, the Composer in Ariadne auf Naxos and most recently, Idamante in Idomeneo. During the past three seasons, she appeared in two new productions at the Metropolitan Opera under the company’s music director James Levine: as Ascanio in Berlioz’s Benvenuto Cellini, and as Siebel in Gounod’s Faust.

Internationally acclaimed for her versatility, Ms. Jepson has performed roles such as Sesto (La Clemenza di Tito) at the Aix-en-Provence Festival, Dorabella (Cosi fan tutte) for Royal Opera House Covent Garden, the Composer (Ariadne auf Naxos) and Octavian (Der Rosenkavalier) at the SemperOper in Dresden, Sesto (Giulio Cesare)with Seattle Opera, Cecilio (Lucio Silla) at Netherlands Opera, Judith (Bluebeard’s Castle) at Vancouver Opera, Rosina (Il barbiere di Siviglia) at New York City Opera as well as Elizabeth (The Crucible) at Washington Opera.

Recent highlights include Kitty in the world premiere of John Adams’s Dr. Atomic at San Francisco Opera, the Composer in Ariadne auf Naxos at Teatro alla Scala in Milan, Charlotte in Werther with Frankfurt Opera, Idamante in Idomeneo at the Gran Teatro del Liceu in Barcelona and Sister Helen in Dead Man Walking for San Francisco Opera, SemperOper, Pittsburgh Opera and Michigan Opera.

Ms. Jepson’s versatility is also reflected in her work as a concert artist and recitalist. This season’s concert appearances include Mendelssohn-Bartholdy’s Symphony No 2 in B flat maj. Op. 52 "Lobgesang" under the baton of Riccardo Chailly at Teatro alla Scala and orchestral Duparc songs at Het Concertgebouw.

Further concert appearances have included Mozart’s Mass in C-Minor, Mozart’s Requiem at Carnegie Hall, Schumann’s Das Paradis und die Peri at the Mostly Mozart Festival under Gerard Schwarz, Gustav Mahler’s song symphony Das Lied von der Erde arranged for piano and voice, as well as frequent appearances at Cincinnati May Festival under James Conlon, most recently in Franz Liszt’s rarely performed oratorio, St. Stanislaus.

Future engagements include Nicklausse in Les Contes d’Hoffmann with Royal Opera House Covent Garden and Brangäne in Tristan und Isolde with Glyndebourne.

Kristine Jepson was born in Iowa and completed her musical studies at the Indiana University. She currently resides in New York City and Santa Fe.