Jennifer Larmore is an outstanding American mezzo-soprano who has parlayed operatic success in Europe into international stardom. She made her professional debut in the l’Opera de Nice production of Mozart’s La clemenza di Tito in 1986. Her vocal talents, energetic acting, and natural beauty quickly established her as an emerging star and during the next decade she performed dozens of leading roles with major European houses to include the prestigious theaters of Paris, Vienna, London, Edinburgh, Rome, Berlin, Madrid, Barcelona, Lisbon, Brussels, Amsterdam, Geneva, Milan, Buenos Aires and Salzburg.
In 1994 Larmore returned to the United States in a triumphant Carnegie Hall appearance as Romeo in Bellini’s I Capultti e I Montecchi. This success was followed by winning the prestigious Richard Tucker award that same year, and a debut as Rosina at the Metropolitan Opera in 1995. Since then, she has been a regular attraction at the Met, singing a wide range from Händel’s Giulio Cesare, Rossini’s, Il barbiere di Siviglia, La Cenerentola and L’italiana in Algeri, Offenbach’s Les contes d’Hoffmann, Strauss’ Die Fledermaus, Humperdinck’s Hansel and Gretel, to the world premiere of Tobias Picker’s An American Tragedy, and the upcoming Hamlet of Thomas.
With her frequent collaborator Antoine Palloc, she has made several International recital tours, including appearances in Amsterdam, Paris, Madrid, Hong Kong, Seoul, Tokyo, Vienna, London, San Juan, Prague, Melbourne, Brussels, Berlin, Rio de Janeiro, Lisbon, Sao Paolo, Athens and Copenhagen, as well as all the major American venues.
Symphonic repertoire plays a large role in this mezzo’s career with the works of Mahler, Schoenberg, Mozart, de Falla, Debussy, Berlioz and Barber featuring prominently world orchestras under the direction of Riccardo Muti, Jesus Lopez-Cobos, Leonard Bernstein, Giuseppe Sinopoli, Kurt Masur, Christoph von Dohnanyi, Renè Jacobs, Charles Mackarras, Jean-Christophe Spinosi, Daniel Barenboim, Richard Bonynge, Lorin Maazel, Seiji Ozawa and many others have fallen under Miss Larmore’s spell.
Jennifer Larmore’s Giulio Cesare on Harmonia Mundi received the Grammophon Award for Best Baroque Opera of the year.
In 2004, Jennifer Larmore was the honored guest soloist in Washington, DC at the 35th Anniversary Celebration of the landing on the Moon by the Apollo 11 astronauts. A particularly unique venture has been her satellite radio program, Backstage With Jennifer Larmore on which she has proven herself a witty and insightful interviewer and commentator. In addition to her hosting many international airline Classical Listening programs, Miss Larmore is widely sought after to give Master Classes in prestigious national and international venues. In 2002, Madame Larmore was endowed with Knighthood by the French Government carrying the title Chevalier des arts et des lettres in recognition of her contributions to the world of music.
In humanitarian efforts, Miss Larmore’s charity of choice has been the American Fund for Unicef.