Free I No ticket required

Jeni Houser DMA Voice Recital 

Jeni Houser, soprano
Thomas Kasdorf, piano

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Program

“Gold is a Fine Thing”       Douglas Moore (1893-1969)
from The Ballad of Baby Doe

Mondnacht         Robert Schumann (1810-1856)

Ständchen        Johannes Brahms (1833-1897)

Die Nacht        Richard Strauss (1864-1949)

La lune paresseuse        Cécile Chaminade (1857-1944)

Apparition       Claude Debussy (1862-1918)
from Quatre chansons de Jeunesses

Mandoline         Gabriel Fauré (1845-1924)
from Cinq Mélodies “de Venise”

Nocturne          Samuel Barber (1910-1981)

Spring Night       David von Kampen (b. 1986)
from Four Teasdale Love Songs

Will there really be a morning?          Ricky Ian Gordon (b. 1956)

“Der kleine Taumann heiss’ ich”          Engelbert Humperdinck (1854-1921)
from Hänsel und Gretel

From La bonne chanson        Gabriel Fauré (1845-1924)
Puisque l’aube grandit
Avant que tu ne t’en ailles
Donc ce sera par un clair jour d’été

Meine Liebe ist grün      Johannes Brahms

Wir wandelten       Johannes Brahms

Morgen      Richard Strauss (1864-1949)

The Daisies       Samuel Barber (1910-1981)

Early in the Morning      Ned Rorem (b. 1923)

A Golden Day       Will Liverman (b. 1988)

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Opera News lauds Jeni Houser’s performances as “commanding and duplicitous, yet also vulnerable. She has a bright future above the staff.” This season, Jeni performs Orff’s Carmina Burana with the Florida Orchestra and the Madison Symphony, and returns to the Metropolitan Opera for Die Zauberflöte. In the 2021-22 season, she made her role debut as Lucia di Lammermoor in a return to Madison Opera and reprised the role at the Seoul Arts Center in South Korea. She also returned to her sought-after interpretation of Königin her Nacht in Die Zauberflöte in her debut with the Opera Theatre of Saint Louis and returned to the Metropolitan Opera for the same title. Her debuts with Seattle Opera as the Controller in Flight and New Orleans Opera in Die Zauberflöte were unfortunately cancelled by the COVID-19 pandemic as were her returns to Virginia Opera as Mabel in The Pirates of Penzance, Madison Opera as Eurydice in Orpheus in the Underworld, and On Site Opera as Rosina in Paisiello’s Il barbiere di Siviglia.

She recently made debuts with the Metropolitan Opera, Los Angeles Opera, and Dallas Opera as Königin der Nacht in Die Zauberflöte, a role she has also sung to great acclaim with Minnesota Opera, Cincinnati Opera, Central City Opera, and Kentucky Opera. She returned to the Dallas Opera stage as the title role in The Golden Cockerel. With the Wiener Staatsoper, she made her international debut as Frantzi in the world premiere of Staud’s Die Weiden, after which she joined the company for its productions of Die Zauberflöte and Trojahn’s Orest.

Ms. Houser has sung Zerbinetta in Ariadne auf Naxos with Austin Opera and Minnesota Opera; at the latter, she also sang Susanna in Le nozze di Figaro, the Charmeuse in Thaïs, and Mrs. Grady in the world premiere of Paul Moravec’s The Shining. With Madison Opera, she has previously sung Olympia in Les contes d’Hoffmann, Johanna in Sweeney Todd, Anne Egerman in A Little Night Music, and Amy in Adamo’s Little Women. She has sung further performances of Johanna in Sweeney Todd with Mill City Summer Opera and Baltimore Concert Opera. She joined On Site Opera as Susanna in Marcos Portugal’s Le nozze di Figaro in her New York City debut, Odyssey Opera in Boston as Cecily in Castelnuovo-Tedesco’s The Importance of Being Earnest, and Fort Worth Opera as Viv in the premiere of Peters’ Companionship. On the concert stage, she has sung Orff’s Carmina Burana with Madison Symphony, Las Vegas Philharmonic, and Atlanta Ballet and Brahms’ Ein deutsches Requiem, Haydn’s Creation, and Mozart’s Requiem with Abendmusik: Lincoln (Nebraska).

During two summers with the Glimmerglass Festival, Ms. Houser sang Königin der Nacht in the young artist performance of Die Zauberflöte and Najade in Ariadne auf Naxos, in addition to joining the company for its production of Candide. She joined Lyric Opera of Chicago’s Lyric Unlimited for The Magic Victrola, in which she sang Olympia’s aria from Les contes d’Hoffmann. She sang Josephine in H.M.S. Pinafore with Opera Saratoga, Frasquita in Carmen with Virginia Opera; and Najade in Ariadne auf Naxos with Fort Worth Opera and Berkshire Opera.

The soprano won second place at the Nicholas Loren Vocal Competition in 2014. She was a district winner and regional finalist in the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions in 2013 and 2011 after earning an encouragement award in 2010, and was a national semifinalist in the NATS Artist Award Competition in 2010. She holds degrees from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and Lawrence University.