"I am so grateful to be receiving this
Award. For a young singer, this is such an incredible honor and it enables
me to continue my training, which is so crucial at this point in my
career. Having been aware of previous winners, I truly feel humbled
to be a recipient of this Award."
Recipient
of a 2001 ARIA Award and a 2001 Richard Tucker Career Grant, soprano
Jennifer Welch-Babidge was also a winner of the Metropolitan Opera's
National Council Auditions in the spring of 1997. Since then she has
been in constant demand for her sparkling vocal technique, her natural
stage presence, and both her dramatic and comic acting ability.
Ms. Welch-Babidge joined the Lindemann Young Artist Development Program
of the Metropolitan Opera at the beginning of the 1997-98 season, and
she made her Metropolitan Opera debut during the 1998-99 season in the
new production of Le nozze di Figaro, appearing later in the
same season as Ida in Die Fledermaus, the First Naked Virgin
in Moses und Aron, and as Mrs. Hayes in the new production
of Floyd's Susannah. Ms. Welch-Babidge also performed song
cycles by Anton Webern with James Levine and the Metropolitan Opera
Chamber Ensemble at Weill Recital Hall.
During the 2002/03 season, Ms. Welch-Babidge makes her San Francisco
Opera debut as Blondchen in Die Entführung aus dem Serail,
which she also performs with the Metropolitan Opera. She then sings
Zerbinetta in Ariadne auf Naxos with the Opera Company of Philadelphia,
and returns to Opera Theatre of Saint Louis for Constanze in The
Abduction from the Seraglio. In the summer of 2003 she appears
as Adele in Die Fledermaus with Seiji Ozawa at the Saito Kinen
Festival. Concert appearances include Moses und Aron with James
Levine and the Munich Philharmonic.
In the 2001/02 season, Ms. Welch-Babidge returned to the Metropolitan
Opera to perform the Guardian of the Threshold in Die Frau ohne
Schatten and the Celestial Voice in Don Carlo. She performed
Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 with the Santa Barbara Symphony
and the Mozart Mass in C minor with the Winston-Salem Symphony.
During the summer, she traveled to the Opera Theatre of Saint Louis
to perform the title role in Lucia di Lammermoor, followed
by performances with the San Francisco Symphony as Cunegonde in Candide.
Next was a tour with the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and James Levine,
where she performed Berg’s Lulu Suite and a Flower Maiden
in Parsifal at the Salzburg Festival.
During the 2000/01 season Ms. Welch-Babidge appeared at the Metropolitan
Opera as Marzelline in the new production of Fidelio conducted
by James Levine, Valencienne in The Merry Widow, as well as
Kristina in The Makropulos Case. She also made her debut with
the Opera Company of Philadelphia as Sophie in Werther. In
the 1999-2000 season, Jennifer Welch-Babidge appeared at the Met in
revivals of Le nozze di Figaro and Moses und Aron,
and she sang Gilda in Rigoletto for the Met in the Parks concerts.
She also performed Berg's Lulu Suite with the Met Orchestra at Carnegie
Hall under the leadership of James Levine and made her Boston debut
in Handel's Messiah with Boston Baroque. Ms. Welch-Babidge
performed Les pêcheurs de perles with the Washington
Concert Opera and she made her European debut at the Schleswig-Holstein
Festival in concerts of arias and ensembles and her Salzburg Festival
debut in Mozart's Waisenhausmesse at the Mozarteum.
Jennifer Welch-Babidge returned to Wolf Trap during the 1998-99 season
to appear as Anne Trulove in The Rake's Progress and Papagena
in Die Zauberflöte. During the 1997-98 summer season,
Ms. Welch-Babidge originally joined the Wolf Trap Opera Company for
performances as Blondchen in Mozart's Die Entführung aus dem
Serail and Despina in Così fan tutte. She also
appeared as soprano soloist in a Viennese operetta concert with the
National Symphony at Wolf Trap's Filene Center. Ms. Welch-Babidge made
her Carnegie Hall debut as a soloist in the A Time For Peace gala
benefit concert, and she appeared for the first time at Avery Fisher
Hall in a concert performance of Strauss' Die ägyptische Helena,
which was taped for broadcast on National Public Radio. She also made
her debut with Washington Concert Opera as Gemmy in Guillaume Tell.
Ms. Welch-Babidge, a native of Aulander, North Carolina, is a graduate
of the North Carolina School of the Arts with a Master's degree in vocal
performance. Among her honors, she received a Sara Tucker Study Grant
from the Richard Tucker Music Foundation and an award from the William
Mattheus Sullivan Foundation.
