Shannon
Jennings

Press & Features
Read reviews, press and news featuring Ms. Jennings.

16 July 2021
Cinderella (Viardot)
"Whether slouching inelegantly in a chair after housework or gliding serenely into the prince’s castle, Shannon Jennings was a natural in the title role. The soprano’s refulgent tone and intense phrasing when Cendrillon reminded her self-absorbed stepsisters of the duty to help the poor was an early sit-up-and-take-notice moment in the evening, and her performance continued to yield vivid results."
- Tim Smith, Opera News



17 July 2021
Cinderella (Viardot)
"Soprano Shannon Jennings sang Marie (Cinderella) with clarity and feeling. Her opening aria was a deep and sonorous showcase and she brought unerring pitch and grace to the climactic high notes of her duet with Prince Charming. As Prince Charming, tenor Christopher Bozeka was Jennings’ equal, singing with warmth and accuracy. Their French was impeccable."
- Jamie McCrary, Washington Classical Review

5 July 2021
Sweeney Todd
"Jennings excelled in a difficult role, maintaining the mystery of her identity and then delivering the truth with a punch to the gut."
- Kristin Franco, MD Theatre Guide


13 April 2021
Liederabend,
Palm Beach Opera
"Last, soprano Shannon Jennings appeared. Surely she is the next Renée Fleming. Her captivating plummy rounded sounds were thrilling. Her two were Ginastera’s “Cancion al arbol del olvido” and “Las locas por amor” of Joaquín Turina. Both were beautifully sung with tonal purity and superb technique. Jennings’s singing will stay with me for a long time to come."
- Rex Hearn, Palm Beach Arts Paper




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


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


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


11 February, 2019
Le vin herbé
“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.
- 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.”
- Elle Marie Sullivan, MD Theater Guide


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."
- 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

22 February 2021
Die Zauberflöte
"As the Queen of the Night’s Three Ladies, Shannon Jennings, Jenny Ann Flory and Jennifer Johnson Cano were musically scrupulous and effective ensemble partners."
- Lawrence Budmen, The South Florida Classical Review