Hailed by the New York Times as a soprano with a “sparkling sound, effortless and confident high notes, agile coloratura, and delicate lyrical grace,” Jessica Pratt is today regarded as one of the leading interpreters of the most demanding Bel Canto repertoire.
After completing her studies in Italy with Renata Scotto and Maestro Gianluigi Gelmetti at the Teatro dell’Opera di Roma, she now prepares her roles with Lella Cuberli. Born in England but raised in Australia, Ms. Pratt currently lives in Italy with her adopted dogs and cats.
Since her debut in 2007 as Lucia di Lammermoor, Ms. Pratt’s schedule has included performances at theaters and festivals worldwide such as Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, Arena di Verona, Gran Teatre del Liceu, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Opera Australia, Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Staatsoper Hamburg, Teatro Real Madrid, Teatro San Carlo, Teatro alla Scala, The Metropolitan Opera, and Théâtre des Champs-Élysées. She has worked with renowned conductors including Carlo Rizzi, Daniel Oren, Daniele Gatti, David Parry, Francesco Ivan Ciampa, Gianandrea Noseda, Gustavo Dudamel, Ivor Bolton, Kent Nagano, Marc Minkowski, Nello Santi, Riccardo Frizza, Roberto Abbado, Sir Colin Davis, and Zubin Mehta.
In the most recent season, she was acclaimed for her debut as Norma in Bellini’s Norma at Opera di Firenze, as Lucia Ashton in Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor conducted by Daniel Oren at Teatro Comunale di Bologna, and in Delirio, Prague at the Prague National Theatre.
One of the most active singers in her field, over the past 18 years Jessica has performed in 145 productions for 95 different organizations, in 82 cities across 18 countries. She has sung 49 different roles, the most popular being Lucia Ashton from Gaetano Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor, with over 120 performances in 41 productions, followed by Amina from Vincenzo Bellini’s La Sonnambula and Elvira from Bellini’s I Puritani.
Her discography includes CD recordings of Rossini’s Otello, Vaccaj’s La sposa di Messina, and DVD/Blu-Ray recordings of Giovanna d’Arco from the Valle d’Itria Festival, Adelaide di Borgogna, Ciro in Babilonia, and Aureliano in Palmira from the Rossini Opera Festival, the 2012 New Year’s Gala, Bellini’s La Sonnambula from Teatro La Fenice in Venice, and Le Convenienze e Inconvenienze Teatrali from Teatro alla Scala in Milan. In 2016, her first solo album Serenade was released by Opus Arte. Upcoming releases include DVD productions of Lucia di Lammermoor directed by Ronconi at Teatro dell’Opera di Roma, conducted by Roberto Abbado, and a DVD of Donizetti’s Rosmonda d’Inghilterra for the Donizetti Festival in Bergamo.
Ms. Pratt is the winner of numerous international singing competitions, including the Australian Singing Competition and the Vienna State Opera Award. In May 2013, she was awarded the prestigious international coloratura soprano prize La Siola d’Oro Lina Pagliughi. In September 2016, she received the Opera Oscar, the International Opera Award, as Best Soprano.
