J'Nai
Bridges
Press
Acclaim
Her voice is a rich blanket of plush sound, capacious and flexible, with a panoply of colors and weights, and as she demonstrated from the start, she’s not afraid of doing nothing.
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"And in May at the Kennedy Center, the Choral Arts Society of Washington presented the East Coast premiere of Damien Geter’s 'An African-American Requiem,' a response to police violence against Black Americans, modeled after Verdi’s formative 'Requiem.' The former was a showcase for mezzo-soprano J’Nai Bridges, tenor Norman Shankle and baritone Kenneth Overton; the latter a star turn for commanding mezzo-soprano Karmesha Peake."
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The American mezzo-soprano, J'Nai Bridges is one of the first rising and great black female opera singers. She is from Lakewood, Washington, and she studied at the Manhattan School of Music and the Curtis Institute of
MUSIC
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In the wake of nationwide protests following the murder of George Floyd, the mezzo-soprano J’Nai Bridges organized an online discussion with five fellow African-American singers: Julia Bullock, Lawrence Brownlee, Russell Thomas, Karen Slack, and Morris Robinson. Their candor rocked the complacent world of American opera, encouraging an outwardly liberal establishment to see how systemic racism cuts through the heart of their institutions.
The headline draw was American mezzo-soprano J’Nai Bridges, as Delilah, making her WNO debut. Her instrument and talent were striking.... her low notes were great, elemental things, seeming to roll through the auditorium, her high range all sharply milled gunmetal.
"...the sumptuous mezzo of J’Nai Bridges"
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Costanzo was at his best when singing in conjunction with mezzo-soprano J’Nai Bridges, in her Met debut as Akhnaten’s wife, Nefertiti.
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The vocal blend of Costanzo’s Akhnaten with mezzo J’Nai Bridges as his wife, Nefertiti, ... was sublime.
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Mr. Costanzo’s love duet with Ms. Bridges had an erotic charge that was enhanced by their slow, deliberate movements
Glass operas don’t always showcase their stars very well, and as Nefertiti, J’Nai Bridges left you wanting to hear her in a larger role.
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Bridges smoldered from the outset with a seductive account of the Act 1 Habanera, was alluring in her Gypsy dance and castanet-bearing courtship of Don Jose, and stood her ground with steely determination to live free.
Mezzo-soprano J’Nai Bridges is young, sexy, vibrant, and dangerous... a Carmen of exceptional musical finish.
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J’Nai Bridges, was excellent in the role...the rich colours of her voice, its pleasing timbre and her careful, neat phrasing, fleshing out the character’s inner beauty.
J’Nai Bridges brings nobility of spirit to Josefa
Ms. Bridges’s Josefa...is fiercely dignified, and entrancing
Demonstrating her versatility, interpretation, and passion for performing, J’Nai Bridges undoubtedly created an impression that will have audiences talking for quite some time to come.
A very good voice, rich and beautiful...she sang with dignity and feeling.
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A lyric mezzo-soprano with a regal, classic sound
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A rich-toned mezzo-soprano with a calmly commanding stage presence
J’Nai Bridges sang with warmth and empathy as Kasturbai
He is joined by an outstanding cast that includes J’Nai Bridges, gorgeously resonant as Gandhi’s wife, Kasturbai
The statuesque mezzo-soprano J’Nai Bridges…brings a sense of stoic certainty to the role of Kasturbai.
“It really feels like we’re just one big unit,” she says. “Not one person is more important than the other.”
Ms. Bridges, our Nefertiti of last season, has a captivatingly rich sound and she stood out consistently as a performer and voice to keep an eye on.
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The role of Kasturbai, Gandhi's wife, gave J'Nai Bridges the chance to shine both vocally in sonic splendor and visually in a lovely sari.
J’Nai Bridges was seen here in 2016 as Nefertiti in Glass’s Akhnaten, and as Gandhi’s wife she once again proved to have the depth of tone and expression to carry off the vocal demands of a Glass score.
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Bridges seduced the entire audience with a powerful performance characterized by a rich, earthy sound and admirable legato.
The fullness and tonal depth of Bridges’ upper notes, the husky quality of her low ones and the sheer lusciousness of her legato lines gave the evening its first thrilling high point.
Bridges displayed breathtaking composure and inner strength in the part. She is lovely to behold, and her melting voice only adds to the impact of her terrifying story.
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J'Nai Bridges sings the ill-fated Josefa with pride, elegance and a gloriously rich mezzo (as well as looking stunning)...
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J’Nai Bridges gave a glowing, searing performance as Josefa, who responds to the mob with serene fury.
J'Nai Bridges brought a lush mezzo and a defiant ferocity to Josefa...
Mezzo-soprano J’Nai Bridges sang Josefa Segovia with glowering intensity and a beautiful dark tone.
Bridges [was] seductive... [She] had the most gorgeous gown of the evening (and it was an evening of many gorgeous gowns) — a tight fitting fuchsia confection with a mermaid skirt and undulating ruffles at the neck and down the back. She was equally gorgeous in "Va! Laisse couler mes larmes" from “Werther.” Her approach was thoughtful, the result was moving, and she had particularly lovely dark sound in her lowest notes.
Try not to get choked up at Eschenbach’s majestic and even surprising take, delivered by the reliable Choral Arts Society and a superb cast of soloists (Leah Crocetto, J’nai Bridges, Joseph Kaiser, and Solomon Howard).
Mezzo-soprano J’Nai Bridges, a sensation at Wolf Trap in recent summers, brought refinement and power to the alto solo.
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Bridges is blessed with a rich, clear, yet often sultry-as-Louisiana-summer mezzo that scales easily into the higher register and finds all the shading of the score's jazzier lilts.
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J’Nai Bridges as the ladies-maid Bersi turned prostitute made a lot of the relatively small role. Singing with significant heft over the raucous music in ‘Temer Perché?’ the mezzo-soprano confidently proclaimed she had nothing to fear from revolutionary spies.
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American mezzo J’Nai Bridges looked and sounded astoundingly good as Bersi.
Particularly affecting, both musically and dramatically, was Akhnaten and Nefertiti’s duet in Act II. Slowly emerging from the wings in scarlet robes with long trains, Anthony Roth Costanzo and J’Nai Bridges sang elegantly of their love. As in the “Liebestod” from Tristan and Isolde, it became a moment outside time, a mystical glimpse into the beyond. Costanzo has the classic countertenor’s eerie celestial sound, well-suited to the role, and Bridges’s rich mezzo blended with his voice so well that it felt like listening to the folk tradition of blood harmony – that singular sound of close relatives singing together, which creates a sort of aural shimmer.
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...with the gentle female sphere of Lucretia, which Britten drapes with luminosity, and which J’Nai Bridges invested with regal anguish
J’nai Bridges’ Suzuki can lay claim as one of the finest displays of Japanese reserve and restraint. Vocally gifted with effusive, smoky substance, her softness and soulfulness fit like a glove as the devoted servant. It is here (and likely the only place) where true frisson and pathos deeply penetrate the soul. Ms. Bridges expresses her character with moving delicateness; she will go far.
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Carmen’s character is deftly etched in Lopez’s music, and J’nai Bridges delivered it exquisitely, her rich mezzo commanding admirable attention.
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That said, there are beguiling musical turns in this work that make it a success, notably a pair of powerful, side-by-side duets near the close and a touching aria written for a rebel named Carmen, sung beautifully by mezzo J'Nai Bridges.
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The other soloists — soprano Mariana Ortiz, mezzo-soprano J'nai Bridges and tenor Joshua Guerrero (all are on the recording as well) — made a tight, strong ensemble.
J’nai Bridges, a star in the making, likewise brought more detail to the servant Inez than the usual cypher.
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Like everyone else in the cast, mezzo-soprano J’nai Bridges, who appeared as Inez, Leonora’s handmaiden, brought a sense of fully-drawn character to her role.
The idea is to pair two established artists with a young Ryan Center artist for each program. As it turned, out, Ryan member Bridges, delivered some of the finest moments of the evening. The mezzo-soprano’s rendition of Ravel’s Sheherezade cycle was mesmerizing, alternately impassioned and suffused with sensual languor and smoky tone. She brought a maternal caressing expression to Montsalvatge’s lullaby Canción de cuna para dormir un negrito and sassy panache to Gershwin’s I’ll Build a Stairway to Paradise, returning this standard to its jazz-age roots.
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In the French songs of Debussy, Bridges opened confidently with a rich resonant sound surrounded by a dramatic depth, even when she was not singing.
J’nai Bridges and Gregory Kunde lit the fire of a passionate, sensual, once-in-a-lifetime, full-moon evening. The children’s ensemble, the reckless knife fights, the sexy ballet and the driving energy overwhelmed my previous memory of Placido Domingo’s Metropolitan Opera production twenty years ago.
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KO executive director Brian Salesky hit pay dirt in casting the role of the priestess Adalgisa with mezzo-soprano J’nai Bridges, a singer probably unlikely to be in Knoxville Opera’s price range for much longer. Bridges’ voice is warm and velvety, but with a thrilling edge quite miraculous in a young singer. Her Act I aria, 'Sgombra e la sacra selva … Deh! proteggimi, o Dio,' a prayer to her god to protect her from the misfortunes of love, was memorable for its dramatic impact, not to mention a clarity of tone capable of causing a few spine tingles.
...Bridges can be a knockout. She most certainly was in Sapho's recitative and aria from the eponymous Massenet work, which she delivered with an earthy, alluring sound, impressive range and proud bearing, to match the vibrant Bess she sang later in the program opposite the Porgy of second-year baritone Will Liverman.
Currently a young artist at the Lyric Opera’s Ryan Opera Center, Bridges possesses a clear and flexible voice and her performance of Ravel’s Chansons madecasses was first class in every way. The young mezzo brought just the right degree of sensual languor to “Nahandove” in a flowing and sensitive rendering. She put across the emotional intensity of the anti-colonialist 'Aoua!' with bracing fervor and dusky chest tone without losing Gallic refinement or going over the top. The relaxed romantic essence of 'Il est doux' was equally poised and expressive. The trio support by Aucoin at the piano, cellist Kenneth Olsen and Jennifer Gunn doubling flute and piccolo was on a comparably high level.
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Standouts among the comprimarios included Richard Ollarsaba's velvety Grenvil and an uncommonly alluring Flora from J'nai Bridges.
The 'Carmen' sequence was notable chiefly for allowing the promising young American mezzo-soprano J'nai Bridges to strut her alluringly dusky voice and fiery temperament as the Gypsy femme fatale, opposite tenor Brandon Jovanovich's ardent Don Jose. This was a good start on a touchstone role she may well make her own one day.
J’nai Bridges’s smoky, well-projected mezzo as the secretary Carolina was another standout.
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Features
“Programming Julia Perry is about making room,” Bridges said. “Not just to tick boxes, but because we want to continue performing beautiful music.”
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"The Tanglewood Festival is very near and dear to my heart, so when I got the call through my manager I said absolutely."
"So, music has always been in my life and in my ear, and in my body. But classical voice came a bit later."
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"I sang the role for the first time three years ago. It was scary for me because I just kind of felt like this woman is – she's complex. So I kind of felt like I didn't have enough life on me. And now I'm at a point where I've experienced some things. And so kind of delving into my experiences where I can relate to her really helps."
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"I feel when you have a sense of self, things don’t tend to ruffle your feathers as much, and that’s important. Being an artist takes a lot of mental and emotional fortitude, but real confidence helps ground you.”
"That moment really changed me for many reasons. I didn't even know that I had this voice in me, but that was the first instance where I was like, ‘Wow I have a voice that's bigger than mine.’ It was about our collective humanity, and breaking down these ingrained stereotypes. And my voice is bigger than me.”
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As I was writing this article about the legendary soprano Reri Grist, I realized that I wrestle with the definition of success - and that I often fight the conditioned urge to quantify the value of my work or the amount of income earned to secure the definition. Reri Grist achieved professional fame and great personal happiness, but she fashioned her own success in accordance with what she valued most - consummate integrity.
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J'Nai Bridges knows that most people perceive opera as being an artform for the elite. Because opera was traditionally catered towards nobility, many today still don’t feel welcome. Bridges wants to change that.
In late May, shortly after the killing of George Floyd, the mezzo-soprano J’Nai Bridges was invited by Los Angeles Opera to give a virtual recital.
“As much as I wanted to, I wasn’t in the right emotional space to present myself in that way,” she later recalled in an online discussion with the tenor Lawrence Brownlee. So she made a counteroffer: What if she assembled a group of fellow Black singers for a panel on race and inequality in opera?
One day, with the collaboration of the Los Angeles Opera, the mezzo-soprano J’Nai Bridges led a Zoom panel on racial inequality with a distinguished group of colleagues: Julia Bullock, Karen Slack, Lawrence Brownlee, Russell Thomas, and Morris Robinson. After the singers described their reactions to Floyd’s killing and their own fraught encounters with the police, they addressed subtler but pervasive tensions in the opera world.
When Ms. Bridges, 33, debuted at the Met in November in Philip Glass’s “Akhnaten,” she had already sung canonical roles around the world. But she found in Mr. Glass’s Nefertiti an ideal vocal and theatrical fit. With this unconventional role there would be fewer preconceived notions, she said, and “more space for people to receive my performance honesty and openly.”
J'Nai Bridges spoke with Unladylike2020 to discuss the life and career of Sissieretta Jones, the first African American woman to headline at Carnegie Hall
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On Friday, June 5, 2020, mezzo-soprano J’Nai Bridges, tenor Lawrence Brownlee, tenor Russell Thomas, soprano Karen Slack, soprano Julia Bullock, and bass Morris Robinson will come together to have a discussion on racial disparity and inequality in the opera world.The conversation, which kicks off at 3 p.m. EDT / Noon PT, will be showcased on the company’s Facebook page.
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When J’Nai Bridges made her triumphant debut in Camille Saint-Saëns’ Samson and Delilah Sunday night, it was the fulfillment of a dream. The young mezzo-soprano’s star has been rapidly rising — this season she made her Metropolitan Opera debut in Philip Glass’ Akhnaten — but Delilah is special.
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From the basketball court to the opera stage, J’Nai Bridges is bringing her vibrant voice to The Kennedy Center. The rising star that once appeared to be destined for a career in pro basketball, counts among the few African Americans who have excelled in the opera.
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These opera singers sang their ways into history books and music lovers' hearts with their supreme vocals. Now, barriers have been broken and ceilings have been crushed thanks to their perseverance, undeniably quest for equality and artistry.
Acclaimed mezzo-soprano J'Nai Bridges almost didn't make it to the Metropolitan Opera. In high school, she was captain of the varsity basketball team with her sights set on going pro. And though Bridges grew up singing in her church choir, it wasn't until she was forced to choose between the sport she knew and the art she loved that she began taking her passion seriously.
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Performed by mezzo-soprano sensation J’Nai Bridges (pronounced “Jah-Nay”), Nefertiti is equal parts impervious queen, renowned beauty, devoted helpmate and mother, and, thanks to her flowing blue wig and gold-gilded crown, reminiscent of a superhero. Altogether, it’s an aspirational combination many women (and especially many black women) are all too familiar with. And yet, even while making her Met debut, Bridges’ presence is already undeniably regal.
The Root
On a Monday evening in early November, the singer J’Nai Bridges, 32, is standing at the piano in the front room of her Harlem apartment. In just four days, she will make her debut at the Metropolitan Opera in New York, where she will sing the part of Nefertiti in Philip Glass’s 1983 opera “Akhnaten,” but tonight she is practicing runs from the 19th-century French opera “Samson and Delilah,” which she will perform at the Washington National Opera in the spring.
“I’m so ready for this,” said J’Nai Bridges, the American mezzo-soprano who is taking on the tempestuous title role in San Francisco Opera’s upcoming “Carmen.” Several hours later, the singer proved her point.
Carmen is tough. So is mezzo J’Nai Bridges.
Imagine the two becoming one on the War Memorial stage on June 5, when Bridges, 32, makes her role debut as La Carmencita, whom she regards as someone “many women strive to be more like and is now being seen as a symbol of universal womanhood. She wants to live free and be unbridled in every sense of the word.”
S.F. Opera’s advertising agrees: “She swore to live free and die free,” adding a potential spoiler, referring to Don José: “He made sure she got her wish.”
“As a performer, J’Nai really has everything,” said soprano Renee Fleming, who got to know Bridges as adviser to the Ryan Center. “She is exciting onstage, a compelling actress, with a gorgeous presence. But most important of all, J’Nai’s voice has a beautiful, distinctive timbre. ... I don’t see any limits to how far she could go.”
"I've spoken to a lot of people and they think this is for only rich white people, and it's just not the truth, you know?"
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Fist bumps and high fives don’t often follow a mezzo-soprano’s brisk high Cs or equally impressive delivery of low range, dusky, rich notes, but when ambition appears in the voice and form of J’Nai Bridges, it’s hard to resist.
Yet Bridges has an unexpected advantage. Before pursuing seriously her singing career, she ran track competitively and played basketball. Like many opera singers do, Bridges considers the discipline she had as an athlete, "kind of like being an opera singer."
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Now, at the age of 29, the American mezzo-soprano is performing major roles for some of the world’s most renowned companies including the Lyric Opera of Chicago, the Los Angeles Opera, and the Bavarian State Opera.
The mezzo-soprano just finished the Lyric’s training program and heads toward a promising career.
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Last spring, mezzo J'Nai Bridges was one of a handful of American artists competing for Cardiff’s Singer of the World prize.
Raised in Lakewood, Wash., Bridges also sang in church as a girl, but unlike Moore, her voice never suited the demands of gospel music. Instead she found her groove as a classical singer when she was a basketball-playing senior in high school ... Her facility at winning contests — she gives credit to her athletic training, which helps her perform well under pressure — put her on the map with a lot of artistic directors and conductors, who have booked her for many upcoming roles through mid-2017.
J’nai Bridges, mezzo-soprano, memorably sang the role of Carmen, a young Peruvian, in Jimmy López and Nilo Cruz’s Bel Canto at the Lyric Opera of Chicago
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Interviews
Interview: J’Nai Bridges of INTELLIGENCE at Houston Grand Opera
"I admired and dreamed to sing with Latonia since I was a college student, so sharing the stage with her was a mix between my dreams coming true and being starstruck. The production, music making and the whole experience was something I will forever cherish."
"Some of the work that I'm doing to improve diversity in opera is, number one, having conversations about the inequities."
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When J’Nai Bridges was in high school, she was faced with a tough decision: play in her basketball team’s finals, or go to her first opera rehearsal. Thanks to some scheduling wizardry, she managed to make it to both events, only to have her coach bench her for prioritizing music over sports. Realizing she couldn’t juggle the two, Bridges made the decision to focus on music.
“I always like to say this career really chose me,” says opera phenomenon J’Nai Bridges backstage at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York. “I never [imagined] in a million years that I’d be singing on the world’s biggest stages,” the 31-year-old continues.
Some of us grow up wanting to be a Rockstar, an astronaut, or a scientist, but J’Nai Bridges wanted to be an Opera singer, and with that job, she gets to be a Queen. Actually, she gets to be THE Queen.
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Opera singer J’Nai Bridges takes to the Tanglewood stage on Sunday in the midst of a whirlwind year.
