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The Canadian mezzo-soprano, Jennifer Routhier, holds a Masters in Voice Performance from the University of Toronto, studying under American mezzo-soprano Laura Tucker. She also holds a bachelor degree in Chemical Engineering from Queen’s University, with a dual degree in Music. She studied voice with the Canadian baritone Bruce Kelly and the renowned Canadian pedagogue, Mary Morrison.
Praised for her “warm, clear mezzo” (Opera Canada, 2014), Jennifer Routhier is a rising young mezzo-soprano on the Canadian stage, in both opera and musical theater. In 2012, she made her musical theatre debut as Margaret in Adam Guettel’s The Light in the Piazza with the Queen’s Student Opera Company, and her international debut with the Centre for Opera Studies in Italy as La Badessa in Puccini's Suor Angelica. Other credits include Hodel in Fiddler on the Roof (Opera NUOVA, 2013), Townsperson and Understudy for Mme de Croissy in Francis Poulenc's Dialogues des Carmélites (Opera NUOVA, 2013), Chorus in W.A. Mozart's Don Giovanni (Opera NUOVA, 2013), Cherubino in W.A. Mozart's Le Nozze di Figaro (Opera by Request), Third Lady in W.A. Mozart's Die Zauberflöte (BSOW), and Imelda in the Canadian staging premier of Verdi’s Oberto (TrypTych Opera), as well as Witch II and Sorceress in Dido and Aneas, and Little Buttercup in Gilbert & Sullivan’s HMS Pianafore. She recently returned to Opera by Request, performing the role of The Mother in Engelbert Humperdinck's Hänsel und Gretel.
In concert, Jennifer Routhier made her debut with the Kingston Chamber Choir in 2011. She has since broadened her repertoire, appearing with the Kingston Symphony, Queen's Symphony Orchestra, Kingston Chamber Choir, Melos Choir & Chamber Orchestra, and other ensembles. She has appeared under the baton of Maestro Paul McCreesh, Hilary Apfelstadt, Jeanne Lamon and more performing works such as Antonio Vivaldi's Gloria, W.A. Mozart's Requiem, George Frideric Handel's Messiah, Imant Raminsh’s Magnificat, Haydn’s Nelson Mass, and J.S. Bach's alto cantatas BWV 170 Vergnügte Ruh, beliebte Seelenlust and BWV 169 Gott soll allein mein Herze haben. She has also performed such works as Camille Saint-Saëns' Christmas Oratorio, Antonio Vivaldi's Magnificat, and W.A. Mozart's Vesperae Solennes de Confessore. In 2015, she performed as the soloist in Scott Macmillan’s Celtic Mass for the Sea with the Canadian Celtic Choir at Carnegie Hall. She was also Alto Lead and Soloist of VOCA Chorus of Toronto .
As a recitalist, Jennifer Routhier has a love for both modern and classical romantic art song and lieder. She toured with collaborative pianist Helen Becqué, performing a program entitled Songs of Life and Love. In 2017, she premiered a commissioned work by Kolby Zinger-Harris and Aparna Halpé as part of the Sounds of Silence initiative for new art song in Toronto.
Jennifer Routhier was recently awarded first prize in the Mozart Project Vocal Masterclass series, and will be performing W.A. Mozart's Requiem with the Toronto Mozart Players under David Bowser in April, 2019. In 2015, she received a Canada Council for the Arts travel grant to work with directors Jeanette Aster and Hans Nieuwenhuis at La Roche d’Hys in Burgundy, France. Other awards include the Hazel Cryderman-Wees Foundation Scholarship for the Performing Arts and first prize at the 2013-2014 Queen’s Concerto Competition in Kingston, Ontario. She currently lives in Toronto, Ontario. |
