New York soprano Michelle Jennings (Pamela Hamilton-Ford) has been called “a model of first class acting and singing” (Asheville Citizen-Times), whose “vocal ease and tone quality in the coloratura ornamentation were extraordinary” (Sarasota Herald-Tribune).

In 2010, Ms. Jennings portrayed Alice in Falstaff, with the Phoenicia Festival of the Voice; Ardita in the new opera The Offshore Pirate, with Christopher Street Opera in New York; Concetta in I Gioielli della Madonna, in her debut with Teatro Grattacielo in New York City’s Rose Hall, was soloist the Broadway revue, Best of Broadway, in St. Augustine, Florida; and she was presented in concert in Virginia and Mississippi.

In the previous season, Ms. Jennings appeared as Rosalinda in Die Fledermaus,with Jacksonville Lyric Opera (FL), soon after she debuted in the role of Rosalinda with Belleayre Festival Opera. She was a guest soloist in a gala appearance for the Westchester Oratorio Society, and she returned as guest soloist for KDNY Dance Company’s Treading Puddles at the Alvin Ailley Citigroup Theatre in New York City. A member of the comedic opera duo Divas Unleashed, Ms. Jennings was Pamela Hamilton Ford in their 2008 workshop performance of The Benefit, in New York City, which was followed by invitations to perform The Benefit in Missouri and Oklahoma in 2009 and 2010. Other notable performances were as Nellie Forbush in Hawaii Opera Theatre’s production of South Pacific, the title role in Pasatieri’s La Divina, in Miami, and Aline in Light Opera Oklahoma’s production of The Mikado, which opened the OK Mozart International Festival to critical acclaim. She was also seen as Nellie Forbush in South Pacific, Estrella in the zarzuela El Barberillo de Lavapies (Barbieri), Just Jeanette in Too Many Sopranos (Penhorwood); and Aline in The Sorcerer, with Light Opera Oklahoma. Other engagements include Fiordiligi in Così fan Tutte, with Asheville Lyric Opera (NC), where she has also sung the role of Musetta in La Bohème; Forester’s Wife and Owl in The Cunning Little Vixen, with Tulsa Opera; Katrina in The Legend of Sleepy Hollow (John David Earnest), with Virginia Opera’s Spectrum Resident Artist Program; Adina in L’Elisir d’Amore with Springfield Regional Opera (MO), where she later returned to sing the role of Susanna in Le Nozze di Figaro; and Olympia in Opera in the Ozarks’ production of Les Contes d’Hoffmann. In additional performances of operetta, she has been seen both on the New York City stage and on national tours as she portrayed the roles of Mabel in The Pirates of Penzance, Yum-Yum in The Mikado, and the Spirit in Bah, Humbug! with New York Gilbert & Sullivan Players and New England Lyric Operetta.

Cultivating an interest in contemporary music, she performed with American Opera Projects in their Composers and the Voice series, where she sang in Jack Perla’s new opera in development, Love/Hate. She also sang the title role in the premier performance of the one-act opera, Ophelia, by Joel Weiss, in New York City, and she was Carla in The Theory of Everything, with Encompass New Opera Theatre in New York City Opera’s VOX / On the Edge series.

At home in a variety of genres on the concert stage and on recordings, Ms. Jennings was recently heard as a soloist for Mardi Gras and All That Jazz, a big band and musical theater review in North Carolina, with Broadway star Tina Fabrique, directed by Broadway star George Merritt. She sang the role of Gilda in a concert version of Rigoletto, in New York City, opposite Mark Delavan in the title role. She appeared with KDNY in Flowers, which was featured at the Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival in Massachusetts. She is heard on the CDs Christmas of Peace and Christmas of Hope, she has recorded for the television show, Star Search, and for the film, The Afterlight, produced by North Lake Films. She has also recorded for the musicals, Girl, Boy, Girl, Boy, and Peter Rabbit, by Milton Granger. A native of Virginia, Ms. Jennings has been presented in concerts of jazz, cabaret, and musical theater throughout the U.S. and Japan.

Event Details: Divas Unleashed:  The Benefit