JessicaNiles

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Soprano
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Contact

For availability and general enquiries:

Charlotte Bateman

Charlotte Bateman

Assistant Artist Manager

Representation

Worldwide general management with Askonas Holt

About Jessica

Noted for her “prodigious energy and clarity” American soprano Jessica Niles is quickly making a name for herself internationally in the creation of new opera productions. Lauded for her unconditional powerful playing as a vocal emotional force, Niles is an alum of The Juilliard School where she trained in Anne Bogart’s method of Physical Viewpoints, a technique that acts as a medium for thinking about and acting upon movement, gesture, and creative space.

Niles’ 2024-25 season includes the title role in Handel’s Partenope at Oper Frankfurt, a return to La Monnaie/ De Munt as Impazienza in I Grotteschi, a new drama based on Monteverdi’s madrigals and three surviving operas, and Sandra in Bernard Foccroulle’s Cassandra, which makes its debut at the Staatsoper Unter den Linden, Berlin.Opening the 2023-2024 season at La Monnaie / De Munt, Niles crafted and premiered the role of Sandra under the direction of Marie-eve Signeyrole, delivering “a remarkable performance as Sandra, a touching and courageous figure to whom the soprano brings conviction, freshness, and profundity”(ConcertoNet). She was featured in the Internationale Händel-Festspiele2021 reprising the sorceress Armida in Handel’s Rinaldo, a role which brought her much acclaim; 2021 also marked the return of international performances of Handel’s Aminta e Fillide with William Christie and Les Arts Florissants, bringing her semi-staged portrayal of Aminta to the 40th annual Festival Dans les Jardins de William Christie, The Queen’s Theatre at The Royal Palace of Versailles, the Muséedes Impressionnismes, Festival Castell de Peralada, and multiple venues across New York City.

A member of the Bayerische Staatsoper Opernstudio from 2021-2023, Niles performed roles ranging from contemporary to baroque including Iris in Claus Guth’s new production of Handel’s Semele where she “provided much of the show’s levity, through musical delivery and physical comedy” (New York Times), Sandrina in the new production of Haydn’s L’infedeltàdelusa where she was hailed as the “highlight of the evening” (OperaOnline, ConcertoNet), Schwester Jasmin in the new production of Georg Friedrich Haas’ Thomas, Echo in Strauss’ Ariadne auf Naxos, Clorinda in Rossini’s la Cenerentola, and una Voce dal Cielo in Verdi’s Don Carlo.

In 2023-24, Niles returned to the Staatsoper reprising Echo in Ariadne auf Naxos with the Bayerische Staatsoper at the 2024 Hong Kong Arts Festival, making her role debuts of Marzelline in Calixto Bieito’s production of Beethoven’s Fidelio and der junger Hirt in Wagner’s Tannhäuser, and reprising Clorinda in la Cenerentola with an all-star cast including Isabel Leonard, Lawrence Brownlee, and colleague and friend Emily Sierra. Niles also performed the role of Musetta in a new production of La Bohéme by director Juana Inés Cano Restrepo.

In recent concert repertoire, Niles has performed and recorded CDs with the Bayerische Rundfunk (Mendelssohn’s Elias) and the MünchenerKammerorchester (chamber pieces for soprano, timpani, percussion, and string orchestra by Gloria Coates); having performed Bach’s Matthäus-Passion last year with the Armenian National Philharmonic, she returns again this season for Bach’s Johannes-Passion.

Jessica is based in Munich

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Representation

Worldwide general management with Askonas Holt

Season Highlights

Nov 2024
Oper Frankfurt
Partenope (title role) George Petrou (conductor) Julia Burbach (director)
Dec 2024
The Bridgewater Hall, Manchester
Handel's Messiah John Butt (conductor) The Hallé (orchestra)
Apr 2025 - May 2025
La Monnaie / De Munt, Brussels
I Grotteschi (Impazienza) Leonardo García Alarcón (conductor) Rafael R. Villalobos (director) World premiere

Photos

Selected Repertoire

BeethovenFidelio (Marzelline)
Bernard FoccroulleCassandra (Sandra)
BrittenThe Burning Fiery Furnace (The Angel)
DonizettiL’elisir d’amore (Adina & Giannetta)
HaasThomas (Schwester Jasmin)
HandelRinaldo (Armida)   •   Semele (Iris)
HaydnL’infedeltà delusa (Sandrina)
HumperdinckHansel und Gretel (Taumännchen)
MozartDon Giovanni (Zerlina)   •   Le nozze di Figaro (Susanna)
NicolaiDie lustigen Weiber von Windsor (Anne Reich)
OffenbachOrpheus in the Underworld (Eurydice)
PucciniLa bohème (Musetta)
PurcellDido and Aeneas (Belinda)
RameauHippolyte et Aricie (Une Matelote)
RossiniLa Cenerentola (Clorinda)
StraussAriadne auf Naxos (Echo)
VerdiDon Carlo (Una voce dal cielo)

News

Press

  • Foccroulle's Cassandra (Sandra)

    La Monnaie / De Munt
    Sep 2023 - Sep 2023
    • Jessica Niles délivre une remarquable prestation en Sandra, figure touchante et courageuse à laquelle la soprano apporte conviction, fraîcheur et profondeur. Jessica Niles delivers a remarkable performance as Sandra, a touching and courageous figure to whom the soprano brings conviction, freshness and depth.

    • Jessica Niles est une Sandra convaincante dans son engagement et ses questionnements existentiels. La soprano américaine passe facilement du registre léger au dramatique, aux prises avec des lignes vocales exigeantes. En tant que comédienne de stand-up, elle est pleine de brio et engage le public alternant discours scientifique, humour et démonstrations pratiques. Jessica Niles is a convincing Sandra in her commitment and her existential questions. The American soprano moves easily from light to dramatic register, struggling with demanding vocal lines. As a stand-up comedian, she is full of brilliance and engages the audience by alternating scientific discourse, humour and practical demonstrations.

    • Jessica Niles’ energy and vocal punch bring the galvanising power that might just get this narrative moving.

    • Sandra, American soprano Jessica Niles, bubbled, shone, sang as if she was on a mission and delivered a hugely convincing performance.