Bio

Jennifer Rasor is known both for her beautiful soprano voice and for her remarkable acting abilities. She is a flexible crossover performer comfortable in many different genres of stage work.

"...exceptionally talented...truly amazing."

 

Jennifer has excellent comedic timing and a strong sense of playfulness audible in her sound as demonstrated in the leading ladies of Rossini and Gilbert & Sullivan. Both entertaining and poignant was her role of Miriam in Elijah's Kite, the opera for children about bullying by the acclaimed Canadian composer James Rolfe.

"She trills operatically to exploit the full humour of Sullivan's score."

 

Most recent stage works include Cio Cio San in Puccini's Madama Butterfly with Toronto Opera Repertoire. Jennifer recently revisited Gilda in Verdi's Rigoletto with Coro Verdi. Another Verdi role she has performed is Oscar in Un Ballo in Maschera with Opera by Request.

"The soul of the show is undoubtedly Cio-Cio-San, 'Madama Butterfly', played beautifully by Jennifer Rasor…impressive and moving…"

 

Concert works stretch from Pergolesi's Stabat Mater Dolorosa to Beethoven's 9th Symphony, Mozart's Exsultate, Jubilate to Orff's Carmina Burana. The song recital is another genre that interests Jennifer, having performed various concerts across Canada, Mexico and Germany.

 

Jennifer has had the opportunity to study and work with such notable personages as Joyce Court, Adolfo De Santis, Franz-Paul Decker, Brian Deedrick, Claudette Denys, Charles Dutoit, Lucile and Robert Evans, Iwan Edwards, Glen Fast, Carol Baggott-Forte, Mark Flint, Christopher Foley, Nicholas Goldschmidt, Stuart Graham, Terry Kowalczuk, Jacques Lacombe, Lorna MacDonald, Giuseppe Macina, Ermanno Mauro, Michael McMahon, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, William Shookhoff, Wayne Strongman, Francois Racine, J. Patrick Raftery and Timothy Vernon.

"...a sound that sent shivers up and down one's spine."

Reviews

"Jennifer Rasor embodied Cio Cio San's delicate and vulnerable nature in such a way that every spectator could not help but feel the pain she endured right up to her inevitable end."

-www.mooneyontheatre.com, Adelina Fabiano

 

"Soprano Jennifer Rasor furnished radiant solos".

Montreal Gazette

 

"Jennifer Rasor appears very sure of herself from the first and is able to draw confidently on the resources of her exceedingly beautiful soprano, which despite its wealth still has reserves."

-Münchener Merkur (translated by Audrey Tillman)

 

"Jennifer Rasor as Rosina showed all the virtues of a singer required in order to enjoy Rossini's compositions with complete joy. She romped through the coloraturas with admirable lightness, never losing her control, never appearing exerted. Both she and the audience enjoyed it."

Suddeutsche Zeitung (translated by Audrey Tillman)

 

"Rasor has an enormous, gorgeously-beautiful voice"

Hamilton Spectator

 

"The most dynamic number was Mozart's 'Exsultate' which highlighted the power and quality of Jennifer Rasor's voice."

Comox Valley Record

Stage Work

Role Work Composer Company
Gilda Rigoletto Verdi Coro Verdi
Cio Cio San Madama Butterfly Puccini Toronto Opera Repertoire
Oscar Ballo in Maschera Verdi Opera by Request
Georgette Il Tabarro Puccini

Atelier S

Miriam Elijah’s Kite J. Rolfe Tapestry New Opera Works
Gossip Noye’s Fludde Britten Britten Celebration
Voce dal Cielo Don Carlo Verdi l'Opéra de Montréal
Rosina Il Barbiere Di Siviglia Rossini Zwei-Groschen-Oper
Gilda Rigoletto Verdi Zwei-Groschen-Oper
Laetitia The Old Maid & the Thief Menotti Opera Midi
Lucy The Telephone Menotti L'Atelier Lyrique de l'OdM
Mrs. Fiorentino Street Scene Weill

Opera McGill

Monica The Medium Menotti

Opera McGill

Mabel Pirates of Penzance Gilbert & Sullivan McGill Savoy Society
Josephine H.M.S. Pinafore Gilbert & Sullivan Victoria Savoyard



Concert Work

Work Composer Conductor
Stabat Mater Dolorosa Pergolesi Stuart Graham
Beethoven’s Ninth Beethoven Terry Kowalczuk
Song at Sunset Mark Sirret Glen Fast
Bachianas Brasileiras No. 5 Villa-Lobos Julian Kuerti
Gloria Vivaldi Daniel Gordon
Magnificat Bach Daniel Gordon
Exsultate, Jubilate K.165 Mozart Wanda Kaluzny
Te Deum Dvořák Charles Dutoit
Peer Gynt, Opus 23 Grieg

Franz-Paul Decker

Peer Gynt, Opus 23 Grieg Charles Dutoit
Carmina Burnana Orff Patrick Wedd

Listen

Listen to Jennifer


Excerpt from Marietta's Lied:

MP4

MP3Die Tote Stadt, Counterpoint Community Orchestra, Terry Kowalczuk conducting. Live, March 2009

Excerpt from À Chloris:
MP3À Chloris by: Reynaldo Hahn. Pianist: William Shookhoff. March 2009





Watch Jennifer

Un Bel Dì aria from Puccini's Madama Butterfly, March 27, 2011.
Cio Cio San sung by Jennifer Rasor, Elizabeth McLeod as Suzuki.
Toronto Opera Repertoire.




Contact
home: 416.532.9299
Cellphone: 416.427.0790

soprano.jennifer@gmail.com

Promotional picture by: Lucie Nadejova at noseprints.ca