Janara Kellerman

Mezzo

Often referred to as “sultry,” “elegant,” and “compelling,” Mezzo-soprano Janara Kellerman is quickly making a name for herself among opera lovers and critics alike. Most recent performances include her role debut as Santuzza in Cavalleria Rusticana with Music Viva Hong Kong; the Old Lady in Candide with Fresno Grand Opera; Little Buttercup in HMS Pinafore with Opera Saratoga and Lyric Opera San Antonio; Zemire und Azor with the Liederkranz Oper; a return to New York City Opera for their production of Antony and Cleopatra, as well as sang a Concert Tour in Switzerland. In addition, she rejoined the composer Robert Aldridge for a repeat performance as the Alto Soloist in his grand work for chorus, orchestra and soloists, Parables. Next season, Janara performs the role of Baba in Menotti’s The Medium with Opera Piccola of San Antonio and joins the New Jersey Symphony for Verdi’s Requiem.

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…with burning intensity…

Il Trovatore - “(Azucena) was sung with burning intensity by mezzo-soprano Ms. Kellermann, who imparted just the right amount of crazed vengeance to the chilling final scene.” – The Westfield Leader

…voluptuous of tone…

Carmen – “DMMO has been quietly nurturing Janara Kellerman in previous seasons, her pungent mezzo and keen dramatic instincts gracing such roles as Antonia’s mother in Hoffman and Rigoletto’s sultry Maddalena. Toss in her considerable dark beauty, and a try at Carmen seemed inevitable; the current season saw her take on Bizet’s Gypsy, in an impressively nuanced role debut. The habanera was voluptuous of tone, and Kellerman’s intelligently shaded Seguidilla purred erotically. Carmen is one of opera’s iconcic characters, of course, and Kellerman is a developing artist, but this was a highly promising assumption that will bear watching closely in seasons to come.” – Opera News

…casts a spell more potent than a cloud of smoke…

Carmen - “When Janara Kellerman struts on stage and launches into the famous habanera’s slinky chromatic descent, it’s easy to forget everyone else. Her voice is simultaneously agile and strong, like a big game cat that prowls through the underbrush pouncing on its prey. With her thick black hair, smoldering gaze and brazen swagger, Kellerman casts a spell more potent than a cloud of smoke. She deftly combines her character’s dramatic sense of abandon with the score’s demand for vocal control.” - Des Moines Register

…appealing combination of warmth and comic subtlety…

Rigoletto - “Janara Kellerman was terrific as Maddalena, singing resplendently and characterizing with teasingly erotic humour; one hopes that somebody is planning Carmen for her.” - Opera News

…from talented singer to true artist…

Rigoletto- “Mezzo Soprano Janara Kellerman comes of age in the sultry role of Maddalena. Here she makes the giant leap from talented singer to true artist.” - Des Moines Register

Composer	Opera	Role
Aldridge	Elmer Gantry	Sharon Falconer
Bellini	Norma	Adalgisa
	I Capuleti e i Montecchi	Romeo
Bernstein	Candide	Old Lady
	West Side Story	Anita
Bizet	Carmen	Carmen
Britten	The Rape of Lucretia	Lucretia
Cilea	Adriana Lecouvreur	Principessa
Donizetti	La Favorita	Leonora
	Anna Bolena	Giovanna Seymour
Gilbert and Sullivan	HMS Pinafore	Little Buttercup
	The Mikado	Katisha
	Pirates of Penzance	Ruth
Gluck	Orfeo ed Euridice	Orfeo
Handel	Giulio Cesare	Cornelia
	Semele	Juno
Mascagni	Cavalleria Rusticana	Santuzza
Massenet	Werther	Charlotte
Porter, Cole	Kiss Me Kate	Bianca
Puccini	Madama Butterfly	Suzuki
Rossini	L’Italiana in Algieri	Isabella
	Semiramide	Arsace
	Donna del Lago	Malcom
Saint Saens	Samson et Dalila	Dalila
Sondheim	Sweeney Todd	Mrs. Lovett
Stravinsky	The Rake’s Progress	Baba the Turk
Verdi	Rigoletto	Maddalena
	Aida	Amneris
	Don Carlo	Eboli
	Il Trovatore	Azucena
	Nabucco	Fenena
	La Forza del Destino	Preziosilla
	Falstaff	Dame Quickly

Composer	Work
Aldridge	Parables
Bach	St. John Passion
	St. Matthew Passion
	Magnificat
Beethoven	Ninth Symphony
	Mass in C
Copland	In the Beginning
Handel	Messiah
Honeggar	King David
Mahler	Second Symphony
	Kindertotenlieder
Mendelssohn	Elijah
Mozart	Requiem
Rossini	Le Petite Messe Solenelle
Verdi	Requiem
Vivaldi	Gloria

Often referred to as “sultry,” “elegant,” and “compelling,” Mezzo-soprano Janara Kellerman is quickly making a name for herself among opera lovers and critics alike. Most recent performances include her role debut as Santuzza in Cavalleria Rusticana with Music Viva Hong Kong; the Old Lady in Candide with Fresno Grand Opera; Little Buttercup in HMS Pinafore with Opera Saratoga and Lyric Opera San Antonio; Zemire und Azor with the Liederkranz Oper; a return to New York City Opera for their production of Antony and Cleopatra, as well as sang a Concert Tour in Switzerland. In addition, she rejoined the composer Robert Aldridge for a repeat performance as the Alto Soloist in his grand work for chorus, orchestra and soloists, Parables. Next season, Janara performs the role of Baba in Menotti’s The Medium with Opera Piccola of San Antonio, and joins the New Jersey Symphony for Verdi’s Requiem.

Roles in Ms. Kellerman’s repertoire include Suzuki in Madama Butterfly, Maddalena in Rigoletto, Adalgisa in Norma, and Eboli in Don Carlos. In addition, she is particularly noted for her comedic portrayals, such as Baba the Turk in The Rake’s Progress, Madame Flora (Baba) in The Medium, Katisha in The Mikado, and Mrs. Lovett in Sweeney Todd.

Prior engagements have included a gala performance of excerpts from L’Italiana in Algeri and Samson et Dalilah with the New Jersey State Opera featuring Samuel Ramey and Paul Plishka; Amneris in Aida and Fenena in Nabucco in New Jersey under the direction of Maestro Jason Tramm; and Mezzo Soloist in the world premiere of Parables. Ms. Kellerman also worked with Robert Aldridge when she stepped in last minute as Sharon Falconer in his opera Elmer Gantry. She was also seen as Orfeo in Orfeo ed Euridice and as Arsace in Rossini’s Semiramide under the baton of Maestro Francesco Ledda in Italy.

Concert performances have included the Alto Soloist in Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony in her Avery Fisher Hall debut; Azucena in Il Trovatore in concert with the Westfield Symphony in the PNC Performing Arts Center under the baton of conductor David Wroe; soloist in Mahler’s Second Symphony with Dubuque Symphony Orchestra; a return to Iowa for a concert of Schumann works; and the soloist in a concert with the Continuo Arts Foundation. She has also sung the alto solos in Honegger’s King David, Handel’s Messiah, Beethoven’s Mass in C Minor, Bach’s St. John’s Passion, Rossini’s Petite Messe Solenelle and Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater.

Ms. Kellerman completed her first recording with the Michael O’Neal Singers in Atlanta as the alto soloist in Honegger’s King David in which the Atlanta Journal said “all the soloists were very good, especially Janara Kellerman – a creamy, rich mezzo.”

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Janara Kellerman