Press & Features
Read reviews, press and news featuring Ms. Jennings.
22 April 2018
L'elisir d'amore
"Shannon Jennings, as Adina’s friend Giannetta, proved the old saying about ‘there are no small parts’ in grand fashion. Her flair for comedy is excellent, and she sang the too short passages given to the role with a voice of much beauty. Her second act scene with the partied out chorus women was one of the most engaging features in an evening that was packed with them."
- George B. Parous, Pittsburgh in the Round
22 April 2018
L'elisir d'amore
"Shannon Jennings made hay of her supporting role Giannetta, bringing an unexpected charm to the character."
- Jeremy Reynolds, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
01 January 2018
The Long Walk
"Shannon Jennings did triple duty, as Aunt Sarah, an Iraqi woman and the 'Shrink,' the last part affording the best display of her lovely voice."
- George B. Parous, Pittsburgh in the Round
01 January 2018
The Long Walk
“Other vocal highlights included resident artist Shannon Jennings as Mr. Castner’s psychologist, singing of blast-induced neurotrauma with an effortless, natural authority and granting the opera a rare moment of catharsis."
- Jeremy Reynolds, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
27 July 2017
Cabildo
"Soprano Shannon Jennings appears at the climax as the dead Lady Valerie and her love duet with [Dean] Murphy is the musical and dramatic highlight."
- Kelly Dean Hansen, Daily Camera
23 January 2017
Richard the Lionheart
"Shannon Jennings (Costanza) was a vision and sang treacherously difficult music with what seemed to be the greatest of ease and with a voice of beautiful quality and quantity. She displayed amazing breath control and acted the part with sympathetic dignity."
- George B. Parous, Pittsburgh in the Round
21 November 2016
Hérodiade
"Shannon Jennings sang prettily in the small role of a young Babylonian."
- Anne Midget, Washington Post
25 August 2016
Merola Grand Finale
"They left the stage to soprano Shannon Jennings (Orlando, FL) for a pensive aria from Mozart's Idomeneo... Her darker sound and clear tone have a blooming quality that easily filled the big opera-house acoustics."
- Philip Campbell, The Bay Area Reporter
21 August 2016
Merola Grand Finale
"Shannon Jennings raged expressively as Ilia in an aria from Mozart's 'Idomeneo'..."
- Georgia Rowe, The Mercury News
20 March 2016
Faust
"Jennings is pure delight as Marguerite. She captures the joy and purity of a young maiden. She can't help but smile when she sings, and neither can the audience... her voice rings with a haunting romance... She captures the highs and lows of human emotion."
- Charles Green, DC Metro Theater Arts
29 March 2015
Così fan tutte
"Soprano Shannon Jennings, the more steadfast sister, uses tricky low notes to comic effect, and delivers a stirring ode to fidelity, 'Like a rock.'"
- Matthew J. Palm, Orlando Sentinel
07 December 2014
HMS Pinafore
"As the young lovers Ralph and Josephine, Cullen Gandy and Shannon Jennings generated warm onstage chemistry... Jennings’s lyric soprano glittered up high... her mid-range, spot-on and even-keeled"
- Grace Jean, Washington Post
06 December 2014
HMS Pinafore
"As Sir Joseph’s unhappy betrothed, Josephine, lyric soprano Shannon Jennings sacrifices neither vocal quality nor expressive characterization... vibrating through the space of the GMU Concert Hall to great effect."
- Michael Poandl, DC Metro Theater Arts
11 February, 2019
Le vin herbe
“Appropriately enough to the spirit of this work, the leads in the production at Wolf Trap appeared to have stepped out of a pre-Raphaelite painting: soprano Shannon Jennings with a serpentine head of auburn hair, and blonde tenor Ian Koziara the incarnation of a Nordic knight. More important, they both brought to their roles tremendous dramatic intensity — Jennings was able to register her reaction to Tristan’s death while standing motionless, only through the expression of her face — and vocal ability."
- Anne Midgette, The Washington Post
23 February 2019
George London Competition
The winners of the 48th annual George London Foundation Awards Competition for young American and Canadian opera singers were announced, with Shannon Jennings recieving a prestigious Encouragement Award.
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- Broadway World
17 March 2019
Carmen
“Ballentine also had impressive interplay with the lovely soprano, Shannon Jennings, who played Don José’s betrothed, Micäela. Jennings’ strongest scene came as Micäela begged Don José to leave his life of banditry and return home to his dying mother."
- William Powell, DC Metro Theater Arts
17 March, 2019
Carmen
“Shannon Jennings was the sweet and strong Micaëla. Her delicate and nuanced performance combined with her huge voice to build an alluring character.”
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- Elle Marie Sullivan, MD Theater Guide
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21 July 2019
NSO Pops
"Giacchino, who began as a video-game and film composer, is an able craftsman, and he provided a big, colorful, showy work full of clear themes, intoned by a female soprano in high wordless vocalese, and underlined by the penetrating hum of prayer bowls, stationed not only on the stage but also in the aisles of the auditorium."
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- Anne Midgette, The Washington Post
27 June 2019
The World Turned Upside Down
"There were certainly highlights. The two femmes fatales of the Gluck, Shannon Jennings and Niru Liu, showed tremendously promising voices (Jennings was featured in “Le Vin Herbé” earlier this season)."
- Anne Midgette, The Washington Post
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23 January 2013
Camelot
"Shannon Jennings, who filled in for McGowan in Sunday’s performance, was the perfect blend of beauty and spirit; it’s easy to understand why a knight would betray his king, and a king would declare war for her."
- Erin Cook, AltDaily
05 December 2012
Gianni Schicchi
"But, when soprano Shannon Jennings, as Lauretta, sings how without her love she 'would rather die,' the words pack an emotional punch with the haunting melody. It's a lovely moment among the merriment."
- Matthew J. Palm, Orlando Sentinel
03 December 2011
The Medium
"But Jennings, as Monica, has a lovely lilting voice that tugs at the heartstrings on 'Mommy, mommy dear…' and lights up the room with her fanciful 'Monica, Monica, dance the waltz…'"
- Matthew J. Palm, Orlando Sentinel