Canadian soprano Jennifer Taverner debuted with Pacific Opera Victoria in 2018 as Armida in Handel’s Rinaldo. She returned in 2019 as the Gypsy Manja in Kálmán’s Countess Maritza, and in 2020 performs the role of Frasquita in Bizet’s Carmen.
Jennifer is in high demand as a soloist with orchestras and opera companies across Canada. Recent engagements include her debut with the Victoria Symphony in Handel’s Messiah; Lily in the premiere of Bandits in the Valley with Tapestry Opera; the cover of Ginevra in Handel’s Ariodante with the Canadian Opera Company; Vivier’s Kopernikus with Against the Grain Theatre at the Banff Centre; Mahler’s Fourth Symphony with Mandle Philharmonic; and Adele in Die Fledermaus with the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony; Nadina in The Chocolate Soldier (Toronto Operetta Theatre), Mozart’s Requiem (Bach Elgar Choir), Honegger’s King David (Menno Singers), and Messiah (Thirteen Strings Orchestra and Grand Philharmonic Choir).
Other highlights include Kathie in The Student Prince (Toronto Operetta Theatre), and various concert engagements including Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony (Niagara Symphony), Vivaldi motets with Thirteen Strings Orchestra, and performances in Ottawa’s Music and Beyond Festival, as well as Brian Current’s Airline Icarus (Soundstreams), Rose in Street Scene (Voicebox: Opera in Concert), Fiordiligi in Così fan tutte (Jeunesses Musicales), and Bach s Mass in B Minor (Toronto Mendelssohn Choir). In 2016, Jennifer was invited to perform at Carnegie Hall in the finals of the New York Oratorio Society Competition and was awarded the Lyndon Woodside Encouragement Award.
Ms. Taverner attended the prestigious Tanglewood Music Center and her performances there included Gyorgy Kurtag’s Scenes from a Novel, excerpts from Gluck’s Iphigenie en Tauride with mezzo-soprano Susan Graham and the Boston Symphony Orchestra, and Stravinsky’s Les Noces, led by Maestro Charles Dutoit. She is a grant recipient from the Canada Council for the Arts, and has been named a laureate of Les Jeunes Ambassadeurs Lyriques. She earned her Bachelor of Music at Wilfrid Laurier University, and completed the Artist Diploma program at the Royal Conservatory’s Glenn Gould School.
Soprano Jennifer Taverner as Armida (in this rendition portrayed as an evil spider queen) brought great menace to the role, as well as a great sense of comedic timing in her attempts to seduce Rinaldo in a glowing purple LED dress. Vocally she was very powerful – innovative in her cadenzas, with an incredibly pure tone and brilliant precision.
Melissa Ratcliff, Schmopera, review of Rinaldo, Pacific Opera Victoria, April 2018
Jennifer Taverner was resplendent and captivating as she featured her extremely strong yet beautifully delicate and ornamental lyricism.
Justina McCaffrey, Ottawa Life, review of Messiah, Thirteen Strings Chamber Orchestra, 2016