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Jennifer Bates, Soprano

About Jennifer

“
...the songs were sung with such passion, such conviction that I thought I could never forget those words.
The Independent, UK

M
aine native, soprano Jennifer Bates enjoys a multifaceted career in the opera, concert and recital worlds. Recent engagements include the role Pepik in the NY Philharmonic production of 'The Cunning Little Vixen', multiple appearances with NY City Opera, Zemlinsky's 'Der Zwerg' with the American Symphony Orchestra, and has been the featured soloist at the Bach Vespers Cantata Series for the past eight seasons, just steps from Lincoln Center.

Highlights of previous seasons have included performances at Carnegie Hall, singing Haydn's 'Lord Nelson Mass' with the New England Symphonic Ensemble, and many European engagements, including Elgar's 'The Kingdom' with Maestro Leonard Slatkin and the Philharmonia in the prestigious Three Choirs Festival, Haydn's 'Creation' with Robert Tear at the Dartington International Summer Festival, Fauré's 'Requiem' with Sir David Willcocks at Royal Albert Hall, and Verdi's 'Requiem' at Windsor Castle.

She has also appeared with the Masterworks Chorale in Boston, the Orchestra of London and the London Pro Arte Orchestra. Her repertoire spans the gamut, ranging from Bach, Monteverdi and Couperin to the more avant-garde works of Schönberg, Eisler, and Berg.

As a recitalist, she has performed in multiple venues in the US and abroad, including a tour of Great Britain performing Britten's 'Holy Sonnets' of John Donne, and a recital at the French Embassy in Washington D.C.

Jennifer is a strong advocate of late 20th and 21st century music , singing numerous premiers of new works and revamping classics of the contemporary repertoire, including Lukas Foss' 'Time Cycle', and 'Miss Donnithorne's' Maggot by Peter Maxwell Davies. She has appeared regularly on NY City Opera's VOX series and has sung on the ALEA III series in Boston.

Ms. Bates was a Chamber Music Fellow at the Aspen Festival, and a Scholar at the Steans Institute for Singers at the Ravinia Festival in Chicago.

Curriculum Vitae

Opera

 

  • First fairy, Soloist, A Midsummer Night's Dream, New York City Ballet
  • Meat-Rack Quartet, Anna Nicole, NYCO
  • Associate Chorus, Mosè in Egitto, NYCO
  • 'Pepìk', Cunning Little Vixen, NY Philharmonic, Alan Gilbert, conductor
  • Associate Chorus, VOX NYCO, George Manahan, conductor
  • Associate Chorus, Esther, NYCO, George Manahan, conductor
  • Associate Chorus, Antony and Cleopatra, NYCO, George Manahan, conductor
  • Associate Chorus, Messiaen, Trois petites liturgies, NYCO, George Manahan, conductor
  • Associate Chorus, King Arthur, NYCO, Jane Glover, conductor
  • ‘Sprite’, Cendrillon, NYCO, George Manahan, conductor
  • Associate Chorus, Margaret Garner, NYCO, George Manahan, conductor
  • Associate Chorus, Cavalleria Rusticana, NYCO, George Manahan, conductor
  • ‘La Musica/Euridice’, Orfeo, SUNY, Stony Brook, David Laughton, conductor
  • Associate Chorus, Acis and Galatea, NYCO, Ransom Wilson, conductor
  • Miss Donnithorne’s Maggot, SUNY, Stony Brook, Tim Long, conductor
  • ‘Governess’, Turn of the Screw’ SUNY, Stony Brook, Tim Long, conductor
  • Associate Chorus, Haroun and the Sea of Stories, NYCO, George Manahan, conductor
  • ‘Pamina’, Die Zaubeflöte, NY Opera Workshop, Richard Nechampkin, dir
  • ‘Erste Zofe’, Der Zwerg, American Symphony Orchestra, Leon Botstein, conducto

Concert / Oratorio

 

  • Handel, Esther, Ars Lyrics, Houston
  • Soloist, weekly Bach Vespers, Holy Trinity Lutheran, NYC
  • Walton, Purcell, Manchester Music Festival
  • Bach, St. John Passion, Bach Vespers
  • Brahms, Liebeslieder, Holy Trinity Music Series
  • Couperin, Léçons de Ténèbres, Holy Trinity Music Series
  • Schubert, Winterreise, Charles Prestinari, piano
  • Bach, St. Matthew Passion, Bach Vespers
  • Scarlatti, Cantata Pastorale, American Classical Orchestra
  • Handel, Messiah, American Classical Orchestra
  • P. Maxwell Davies, Miss Donnithorne’s Maggot, SUNY, Stony Brook Contemporary Ensemble
  • Haydn, Mass in Dm, St. James Music Series
  • Schönberg, Pierrot Lunaire, SUNY, Stony Brook Contemporary Chamber Players
  • Schubert, Poulenc, Strauss Recital, French Embassy, D.C.
  • Britten, Eisler, Strauss Recital, La Jolla Chamber Music Society
  • Lukas Foss, Time Cycle Aspen Music Festival
  • Eisler, Schönberg, Berg Recital, Aspen Music Festival
  • Haydn, Mass in Dm Dr. Dennis Cox, conductor, Carnegie Hall
  • Mozart, Requiem Masterworks Chorale, Boston, Allen Lannom, conductor
  • Barber, Poulenc, Crumb Recital, La Jolla Chamber Music Society
  • Haydn, Creation Dartington Int’l Music Festival, Robert Tear, conductor
  • Mozart, Mass in Cm St. Johns Smith Square Festival, London
  • Britten, Holy Sonnets of John Donne Recital Tour, UK, David Owen Norris, pianist
  • Mozart, Mass in Cm, Windsor Castle Music Series
  • Elgar, The Kingdom, Philharmonia, Leonard Slatkin, conductor
  • Fauré, Requiem, Royal Albert Hall, Sir David Willcocks, conductor
  • Brahms, Ein deutsches Requiem, Bristol Music Festival, (UK)
  • Verdi, Requiem, Windsor Castle Music Festival
  • Lukas Foss, Time Cycle, Altenburg Music Festival, Germany

Education

 

  • SUNY, Stony Brook DMA candidate current
  • Aspen Fellowship Recipient
  • Ravinia Festival, Steans Scholar
  • Manhattan School of Music MM
  • Boston Conservatory BM

Live Recordings

Richard Strauss, Three Songs:

Jennifer Bates, soprano
Caren Levine, piano

Das Rosenband, Op.36, No.1

Die Nacht, Op.10, No.3

Schön sind, doch kalt, Op.19, No.3

Hanns Eisler, Selections from Zeitungsausschnitte, Op.11:

Jennifer Bates, soprano
Caren Levine, piano

Kinderlied aus dem Wedding, Op.11, No.2

Heiratsannonce (Liebeslied eines Kleinbürgermädchens), Op.11, No.3

Kriegslied eines Kindes, Op.11, No.4

Heiratsannonce (Liebeslied eines Grundbesitzers), Op.11, No.8

Benjamin Britten, The Holy Sonnets of John Donne, Op.35: 

Jennifer Bates, soprano
Caren Levine, piano

Oh my blacke Soule, Op.35, No.1

Batter my Heart, Op.35, No.2

O might those Sighes and Teares, Op.35, No.3

Oh, to vex me, Op.35, No.4

What if this present, Op.35, No.5

Since she whom I loved, Op.35, No.6

At the round Earth’s imagined corners, Op.35, No.7

Thou hast made me, Op.35, No.8

Death, be not proud, Op.35, No.9

Franz Schubert, Der Leiermann OP. 89 #24

Winterreisse, D911

Jennifer Bates, soprano,
Charles Prestinari, piano

 

Clara Schumann, Vier Lieder

Ihr Bildnis
Er ist gekommen in Sturm und Regen, Op.12 No.2
Sie liebten sich beide, Op.13 No.2
Lorelei

Jennifer Bates, soprano
Caren Levine, piano
La Jolla Chamber Music Society

Peter Maxwell Davies, Miss Donnithorne's Maggot

Jennifer Bates, soprano
SUNY Stony Brook Contemporary Ensemble,
Timothy Long, conductor



J. S. Bach, Magnificat, BWV 243

Quia respexit

Jennifer Bates, soprano
Bach Vespers, Holy Trinity Lutheran
Rick Erickson, conductor
(exerpt)

Haydn, Kyrie; Lord Nelson Mass

Jennifer Bates, soprano
Ensemble Rebel and St. James Choir
(exerpt)

Schedule

Event listing updates in progress

5pm Thursday Oct 25, 2019 7:30pm
Woodford Congregational Church Chapel

All Monteverdi, Portland Early Music Festival

5pm Thursday July 26, 2018
Blue Hill Bach Festival
David's Folly Farm, West Brooksville

Purcell 'Dido and Aeneas', Belinda

3pm Sunday April 8 2018
Collins Center for the Arts

Bangor Symphony Orchestra
Mozart, Mass in C Minor , K 427

Friday February 16, 2018
Ars Lyrica, Houston

Handel, Esther

 

3pm Saturday January 13th 2018
Bowdoin Chapel Campus Road, Brunswick, Maine

Duruflé, Requiem
Byrd, Mass for Five Voices

7pm Friday January 12th 2018
St Luke's Cathedral 143 State Street, Portland, Maine

Duruflé, Requiem
Byrd, Mass for Five Voices

 

 

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