Jenni Bank
Mezzo-soprano
Mezzo-soprano, Jenni Bank, was born in Johannesburg, South Africa and grew up in Binghamton, New York. Ms. Bank’s voice has been described as a “lush mezzo” by The Wall Street Journal and The Baltimore Sun has praised her “deep, dark, penetrating tone; one that can extract Verdian richness.”
Ms. Bank recently sang “Azucena” in Verdi’s Il Trovatore, with Opera in the Heights in Houston, to rave reviews. The Houston Press lauded her “Verdian technique of the highest caliber and agility to cover the scale with strength and, yes, subtlety…Bank is her own force of nature and achingly conveyed her obsessed gypsy heart through masterful command of her stupendous voice. Thrilling to behold, it's like hearing the waves of the sea.” She was also recently seen as Katisha in The Mikado with The Young Victorian Theatre Company.
A recipient of many awards from prestigious competitions, Ms. Bank was recently awarded The Sullivan Foundation’s Grand Prize and Career Development Award. She has also won first place in the Harold Haugh Comic Opera Competition, second place in the Shreveport Opera Singer of The Year Competition, was a semi-finalist in the Houston Grand Opera Eleanor McCollum Competition and the Competizione dell’Opera in Germany, and was awarded a Career Encouragement award from the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions.
Some of Ms. Banks other performances include The Duchess in the North-American Premiere of Unsuk Chin’s Alice in Wonderland with Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, Dame Quickly in Falstaff, Dryad in Ariadne auf Naxos, Frugola in Il Tabarro, La Zia Principessa in Suor Angelica, Zita in Gianni Schicchi, Katisha in The Mikado, Marcellina The Marriage of Figaro, Martha in Faust, Giulietta and La voix de la mere in Les Contess d’Hoffmann, Miss Todd in The Old Maid and the Thief, Petra in A Little Night Music , Ruth in Pirates of Penzance, The Fairy Queen in Iolanthe, Buttercup in H.M.S. Pinafore, The Witch in Hansel and Gretel, Third Lady in The Magic Flute and mezzo solos in the Verdi Requiem, Mozart Requiem, Bruckner Te Deum, Mendelssohn’s Elijah and Beethoven’s 9th Symphony