Canadian soprano Jacqueline Woodley has been praised for her fearless versatility, changing styles fluidly from early music to contemporary, from opera to art song.

 

Recent performances include her début at San Francisco Opera; singing Papagena (Die Zauberflöte), Waldvogel (Siegfried) and Cherubino (Le nozze di Figaro) with the Canadian Opera Company and both Belinda (Dido and Aeneas/Aeneas and Dido Purcell/Rolfe double bill) and Daphne (Apollo e Dafne, Handel) for Toronto Masque Theatre . Other recent performances include her debut with the Montreal Symphony Orchestra under Kent Nagano; the Canadian premiere of There was a Child (Jonathan Dove) with Kitchener-Waterloo Philharmonic Choir; the roles of Adele (Die Fledermaus) and Papagena (Die Zauberflöte) with Edmonton Opera; appearances at the Vancouver Early Music Festival and the Ottawa International Chamber Music Festival with Les Voix Baroques; a soprano and trumpet programme for Clavecin en Concert and La Fête de la Musique de Mont-Tremblant; and Handel’s Messiah for groups such as the National Arts Centre Orchestra, Grand Philharmonic Choir, Aradia Ensemble, Symphony Nova Scotia and in a staged version for Against the Grain Theatre.

 

Sought after for her “exceptional talent” in performing modern works, Jacqueline created the role of Milica-Bride in the première of Ana Sokolovic’s opera Svaba-Wedding with Queen of Puddings Music Theatre, as well as subsequent Canadian and European tours and the American premiere of the work with Philadelphia Opera.  She also recently sang the role of Dahlia in the premiere of Scottish composer John Harris and Marjorie Chen’s M’dea Undone (co-production by Tapestry Opera and Scottish Opera).  She returned to Tapestry Opera this spring singing the premiere of Nataliya in Aaron Gervais' searing Oksana G.  Other acclaimed performances of contemporary music include works by György Kurtág, Judith Weir and a performance with Kaija Saariaho in Washington.

 

Jacqueline has been featured in a newly released album of songs called "Cloud Light" by Canadian-Polish composer Norbert Palej, recorded with pianist Steven Philcox and the Canadian Art Song Project.

 

She was recently featured in a jazz mass with reknowned jazz musicians Christine Jensen, Chad Linsley, Adrian Vedardy, Dave Laird and the Choeur Saint-Laurent in their concert of Mass in Blue (Todd) and Summertime.

 

Possessing a strong affinity for concert works, Jacqueline has recently sung Bach’s Saint John Passion and Mass in b-, Orff’s Carmina Burana, Fauré and Mozart’s Requiem, Mahler’s Eighth Symphony, Mercure’s Cantate pour une joie, Haydn’s The Creation, Pärt’s Stabat Mater, Villa-Lobos’ Bachianas Brasileiras No. 5, I-II, and Vaughan Williams’ Dona Nobis Pacem.

 

Jacqueline holds a master’s in opera from McGill University where she studied and coached with Joanne Kolomyjec, Patrick Hansen and Michael McMahon.  An alumna of the Canadian Opera Company Studio Ensemble (2010-2012), she performed and covered several main stage roles, including Olympia (Les contes d’Hoffmann), Amore (Orfeo ed Euridice), First Priestess (Iphigénie en Tauride), Page (Rigoletto), Lace Seller (Death in Venice), and was heard in the Studio Ensemble productions as Iris in Semele and the “deliciously sexy” Papagena in Die Zauberflöte.