Jessica Cooper
Soprano
New England Finalist, 2002

Jessica Cooper recently sang the two soprano roles in Handel's Samson with Donald Teeters and the Boston Cecilia in Jordan Hall, and has been a soloist with the Cecilia for the past three years. She was warmly heralded as "a welcome addition to Boston's top rank of Handel sopranos" by Boston Globe critic Richard Dyer in the October 2001 review. Her voice was characterized as being "agile, attractive and full of character." Boston Herald critic Lloyd Schwartz said, "Cooper's warm, attractive, sizeable voice nailed the fiendishly difficult, celebratory coloratoura." She was also acclaimed in the Boston Globe for her performance of John Harbison's Simple daylight in Jordan Hall in the New England Conservatory's "Boston Composers Series" in April of 2000. Richard Dyer wrote, "Jessica Cooper sang with beautiful tone, and backed up emotional intensity with technical security."

Miss Cooper was a fellow in the Pacific Music Festival and has appeared with the La Jolla Symphony, New England Conservatory Honors Orchestra, San Diego State University Symphony, and in recital in the Stockbridge Chamber Concert series, at Sapporo City Hall and the San Diego Athenaeum. She was the winner of the New England Conservatory Concerto Competition, and performed with the Honors Orchestra in the 2000 Commencement ceremonies.

She performed the role of Tytania in Britten's A Midsummer Night's Dream with the New England Conservatory Opera Theater in January 1999, and sang the role of Lucia in the NEC 2000 production of Britten's The Rape of Lucretia, both directed by John Moriarty. Other roles in her repertoire include Queen of the Night (The Magic Flute), Cleopatra (Giulio Cesare), and Zerbinetta (Ariadne auf Naxos). She holds two Master's degrees from NEC, in Opera and Voice Performance, where she graduated with honors in performance and academic distinction. She is soprano soloist at All Saints Parish in Brookline, and performed in the memorial concert performance of the Faure Requiem last March. She is originally from San Diego, California.

Return to List of Finalists