Jessica Aszodi‘s career could best be described as genre-bounding and label-defying. The Australian-born, London-based vocalist has premiered dozens of new pieces, performed work that has lain dormant for centuries, devised pieces, projects and festivals, sung roles from the standard operatic repertoire and collaborated with a constellation of artists from the far reaches of the musical palette. Her performances have been described as “..thrilling..” (LA Times) and “..intense..” (NY Times). Her voice has been praised for its “utmost security and power” (Chicago Tribune) while the media in her native Australia have dubbed her “one of the finest actress-singers in the country” (The Age).
Her voice has an unusual range, both in terms of colour and pitch, making it possible for her to perform repertoire across genres (from experimental to baroque, folk to opera) and voice types (from contralto works like Boulez’ Le Marteau sans maître to soprano gems like Grisey’s Quatre chants pour franchir le seuil ).
She has been a soloist with ensembles as diverse as ICE, the Melbourne, Sydney and Adelaide Symphony Orchestras, Pinchgut Opera, the Tirolean Symphony Orchestra, Victorian Opera, Sydney Chamber Opera, and in the chamber series of the San Diego and Chicago Symphony Orchestras. Her operatic roles include Eve (Stockhausen’s Dienstag aus Licht), Socrates (Satie’s Socrates), Aminta (Mozart’s Il re pastore), Donna Elvira (Don Giovanni), Sesto (Guilio Cesare), Popova (Walton’s The Bear), Rose (Elliot Carter’s What Next?) and Echo (Ariadne auf Naxos).
Jessica can be heard on recording for Chandos, Ars Publica and Hospital Hill and has sung in festivals around the world, including Klangspuren, Beethoven Festival Bonn, Vivid Sydney, BIFEM, the Melbourne and Adelaide Festivals, Aldeburgh, Tectonics and Tanglewood. Aszodi has twice been nominated for the Australian Greenroom Awards as ‘best female operatic performer’ – in both the leading and supporting categories. She is co-director of the Resonant Bodies Festival (Australia), artistic associate of BIFEM, and a 2017 artist in residence at ‘High Concept Labs’ (Chicago). She holds a Doctorate of Musical Arts from the Queensland Conservatorium, a Masters of Fine Arts from the University of California, teaches voice, and has written scholarly articles for several books and journals.
