"A sound that is rich, full & luminous..."
- THE NEW YORK TIMES
Official Biography
American Soprano, Jessica Faselt, is the recipient of the 2021 Hildegard Behrens Foundation Award, and the 2020 George London Foundation Award. Ms. Faselt has been praised for her "keen expression and impressive delivery" in performance with a “sound that is rich, full and luminous throughout its range."
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Most recently Ms. Faselt debuted with the LA Philharmonic at the historic Hollywood Bowl under the baton of Maestro Gustavo Dudamel, singing Helmwige in the Act III ‘Ride of the Valkyries’of Wagner’s Die Walküre. Additionally, she was a Semi-Finalist of the Neue Stimmen International Voice Competition in Germany representing the US, and a participant of the Birgit Nilsson Masterclass in Sweden.
In 2021/2022 Ms. Faselt returned as an Artist with the Metropolitan Opera covering The First Lady in The Magic Flute and will be returning in 2022/2023 to perform the role.
Ms. Faselt was a member of the Lindemann Young Artist Development Program at the Metropolitan Opera for three seasons. In 2019, Ms. Faselt made her Metropolitan Opera Live in HD debut in movie theaters around the world as Helmwige in Wagner’s Die Walküre. Following this debut, Ms. Faselt was engaged to sing Helwige in the Act III ‘Ride of the Valkyries’of Wagner’s Die Walküre with the Boston Orchestra at the Tanglewood Music Festival.
Ms. Faselt was the cover for the Lady in Waiting in the Metropolitan Opera’s 2019 production of Verdi’s Macbeth. In 2018 she made her Metropolitan Opera debut as ‘a Novice’ in Puccini’s Suor Angelica. Ms. Faselt was a winner of the 2018 Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions . Upon performing with the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra in the Grand Final Concert, Ms. Faselt was presented with the Birgit Nilsson Award of the American Scandinavian Foundation. Due to the COVID-19 global pandemic, Ms. Faselt was unable to perform her scheduled roles with the Metropolitan Opera in the 2020/2021 season of ‘The High Priestess’ in Verdi’s Aida, ‘First Young Nun’ in Prokofiev’s The Fiery Angel, and ‘Unborn 2’ in Richard Strauss’ Die Frau ohne Schatten.
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FOUR LAST SONGS by Richard Strauss.
Pianist: Katelan Trần Terrel
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Alongside her most recent awards from the renowned Hildegard Behrens Foundation and George London Foundation, Ms. Faselt has earned many prestigious awards in international and national competitions. Ms. Faselt is a 2020 George London Foundation Award winner. She also received a Sarah Tucker Study Grant with the Richard Tucker Music Foundation, a Maria Callas Tribute Prize NYC, the Ursula Springer Prize from the Wagner Society of New York, the third prize in the Giulio Gari International Voice Competition, and she received the 2019 Tito Capobianco Award from Opera Index Foundation. Ms. Faselt is also the recipient of the 2019 Richard F. Gold Career Grant. Ms. Faselt was a semi-finalist with the Premiere Opera Foundation International Voice Competition and sang on the Premiere Opera Foundation Masterclass with Maestro Richard Bonynge. Jessica was a Semi-Finalist in the Elizabeth Connell Prize International Vocal Competition. She received the 2nd Place Award at the Opera Columbus Cooper-Bing International Voice Competition in 2017. She received an Encouragement Award at the Marcello Giordanni International Voice Competition in 2017. She was also a Semi-Finalist of the Eleanor McCollum Voice Competition with the Houston Grand Opera in 2016.
Ms. Faselt was a Studio Artist with the Florida Grand Opera covering the roles of ‘Salome’ in Richard Strauss’s Salome and ‘Florencia’ in Daniel Catán’s Florencia en el Amazonas. Ms. Faselt was an Emerging Young Artist with The Institute for Young Dramatic Voices where she studied under world-renowned mezzo-soprano, Dolora Zajick. She was a Gerdine Young Artist with Opera Theatre of Saint Louis covering ‘Ariadne’ in Ariadne auf Naxos. Ms. Faselt was also engaged as an Apprentice Artist with Des Moines Metro Opera. Ms. Faselt received her Masters of Music from the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music where she received the Corbett Award. As a native of Iowa, Ms. Faselt began her training with a Bachelors of Music from the University of Iowa School of Music with honors.