BIOGRAPHY
Praised for her "warm, gleaming lyric soprano" voice (Washington Post), American soprano Jennifer Forni has distinguished herself as a dynamic singer possessing the raw yet luxurious power of a classic full lyric soprano. Always “attentive to the subtler points of interpretive expression” (The Baltimore Sun), Ms. Forni, while possessing a “fuller lyric sound” (Opera News) has maintained an "exquisite pianissimo" (Springfield News-Leader) above the staff. Oregon Arts watch commented, "she has the best messa di voce... I've heard in a long time!".
This summer Jennifer will step into the iconic role of Turandot in Puccini's final work Turandot with the Springfield Regional Opera.
In recent years Jennifer has performed such roles as Desdemona in Verdi's Otello with Springfield Regional Opera as well as La Contessa in Mozart's Le Nozze di Figaro. Jennifer was featured as Tatyana with the Portland Opera in their brand new production of Eugene Onegin, under the direction of Kevin Newbury. She has also appeared as Musetta in their production of La Boheme and Micaëla in their Carmen. Jennifer can also be seen in the Metropolitan Opera's HD Broadcast performance of Wagner's Parsifal under the award-winning direction of Francois Gerrard.
Jennifer is equally at home on the concert stage, having just performed the world premiere of Gordon McQuere's Rossetti Songs with the Topeka Symphony this past March 2021. She has also performed such works as; Chants d'Auvergne with the Oregon Music Festival, Vaughan Williams’ A Sea Symphony at Carnegie Hall with the New York Choral Society, the Fauré and Rutter Requiems (also at Carnegie Hall) with Mid-America Productions, Knoxville: Summer of 1915 with the Oregon Mozart Players, Juneau Symphony, Springfield Symphony Orchestra, and The Topeka Symphony, Mahler"s Symphony No. 2 with the Greeley Philharmonic, Mahler's 4th Symphony with the Topeka Symphony and the Springfield Symphony Orchestra, and Beethoven's 9th Symphony and the Mozart Requiem with the Springfield Symphony Orchestra. During her Portland Opera debut recital, she was hailed for her performance of Strauss’s legendary work the Vier Letzte Lieder. “She shone spectacularly in Strauss’s Four Last Songs. Brava Ms. Forni.” (Stephen Llewellyn, Portland Opera official blog).
Jennifer was the recipient of the Evelyn Puddy Oliver Scholarship to attend the Oberlin Conservatory of Music where she received a Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance. She continued her studies at the University of Maryland, College Park, where she received a Master of Opera. During this time, she was personally selected by Marilyn Horne to represent the university in The Song Continues master class series at Carnegie Hall with Martin Katz.
In 2008, while Jennifer was a member of the prestigious Santa Fe Opera Apprentice Program, she was asked to take over the role of Nannetta in Verdi's Falstaff. Remarkable for the short-lead time involved, the performance was widely viewed as a triumph. When interviewed about Jennifer's performance by Classical Singer Magazine, Glen Lewis (Head of Music, Pittsburgh Opera) said, "When we finally heard her on stage, [her voice] felt almost luxurious for a Nannetta. We think it won’t be long until she moves into a more substantial repertoire." Subsequently, Jennifer has moved on to ampler roles such as Tatyana from Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin, Alice Ford from Verdi's Falstaff, and Cio-Cio San from Puccini's Madama Butterfly.
Jennifer is a former member of the Portland Opera Studio, where she appeared in Bernstein's Trouble in Tahiti, Monteverdi's Il Combattimento di Tancredi e Clorinda, Il Ballo delle Ingrate, and Engelbert Humperdinck's Hansel and Gretel.
In 2011, Jennifer joined New York City Opera to understudy the role of Rita Clayton in Stephen Schwartz's World Premiere Opera Seance on a Wet Afternoon. She was invited back the following season to understudy the role of Violetta in Verdi's La Traviata.
In January of 2013, Jennifer joined the roster of The Metropolitan Opera in their new production of Wagner's Parsifal. This epic production was broadcast live in HD to movie theatres around the world!
In 2013-14, Jennifer was an artist in residence with Opera San Jose performing such roles as Alice Ford in Verdi's timeless classic Falstaff, Cio Cio San in Puccini's heart-wrenching tragedy Madama Butterfly, and Donna Anna in Mozart's masterpiece of Don Giovanni. She took a brief absence to return to The Metropolitan Opera to be a part of Die Frau Ohne Schatten.