EducationBM Westminster Choir College
AboutSoprano Kimberly Eileen Jones is an alum of the Ryan Opera Center with the prestigious Lyric
Opera of Chicago. Her performances there include the slave girl, Margru, in the world premiere
of Anthony Davis'
Amistad, which was released nationally on the New World recording label.
She also portrayed the feisty Olga in
Fedora, Princess Xenia in Boris Godunov and the spitfire
Despina in
Cosi Fan Tutte student matinee performances. With the Ryan Opera Center, she
portrayed Laetitia in Menotti's
Old Maid and the Thief. Additionally, she made her Grant Park
Festival debut as Zerlina (Don Giovanni) and Adele (Die Fledermaus) the following season.
Kimberly performed in Houston Grand Opera's colorful production of
The Magic Flute
(Papagena), and reprised her role of Xenia in
Boris Godunov. Also with Houston, she
participated in their production of
Porgy and Bess, as Clara. This tour graced the international
stages of La Scala in Milan, the Bastille in Paris and the Bunkamura in Tokyo, Japan. For her
portrayal of Clara, she was nominated for Best Supporting Actress by the NAACP Awards.
She captivated audiences in her Alice Tully Hall debut with the Little Orchestra Society, in an
evening of Vivaldi arias. She received rave reviews as the Composer in Mozart's
Jewel Box with
the Chicago Opera Theater, as well as Mahler's Second Symphony with the Madison Symphony.
She has also appeared in concert with the Ravinia Festival (
Bourgeois Gentilhomme), Richmond
Symphony (
Knoxville: Summer of 1915) and with Madison Symphony (
Messiah and
Christmas
Pops) . Her first
Carmina Burana and Haydn
The Creation were performed with the Rockford
Symphony. She was showcased in an afternoon of arias and duets during the opening weekend of
Jay Pritzker Pavilion of Millennium Park in Chicago.
She was selected by Maestro Bruno Bartoletti, Lyric Opera's former Artistic Director, to appear
with the Orchestra della Toscana in Florence, La Spezia and Piombino. She was one of four
opera center artists showcased in a series of concerts at the Chatelet in Paris, France.
She has received a George London grant, Sullivan grant, and a Licia Albanese Encouragement
grant. She has been nominated for the Richard Tucker grant, received three grants from the
MacAllister Awards competition, and was awarded the Richard Gold Career Grant from the
Lyric Opera of Chicago. She is a Union League Civic and Arts Foundation (now Luminarts)
prize winner . At the recommendation from Ardis Krainik, she was presented in
Opera Now
magazine's "Who's Hot in Opera".
She has performed the Philip Glass Symphony #5 at the Gewandhaus in Leipzig, Germany, and
with the Stuttgart and Danish Radio Symphonies in Germany and Copenhagen. She has
performed four times at the Chicago Cultural Center in Preston Bradley Hall, including a WFMT
radio broadcast of the Dame Myra Hess concert, and a Negro Spirituals concert with award
winning actress, Irma P. Hall.
She made her Connecticut Opera debut as Fiordigili in
Cosi Fan Tutte. With Lyric Opera's
Opera in the
Neighborhoods, she has portrayed the title role of Cenerentola, and twice the role of Rosina
(
Barber of Seville). She has performed a
Christmas Pops concert with DuPage Symphony and
Messiah with New Buffalo and Michigan City Symphonies. With Ryan Center of Lyric Opera
of Chicago, she has been featured three times in
Meet the Artist, presenting a musical program to
Chicago area schools, sharing her life as an operatic artist.
Kimberly returned to Mandel Hall singing Vaughn Williams' Sea Symphony under the baton of
Barbara Schubert, which was followed by her first Mendelssohn's Psalm 42 in Glenview and
Haydn Lord Nelson Mass excerpts. She has participated in several Lyric Opera Chapters
concerts around the Chicago and suburban areas. She made her Grand Rapids Symphony debut
with Maestro David Lockington in Handel's
Messiah, as well as with the North Shore Choral
Society. In the Brahms
Requiem she was the soprano soloist at Mandel Hall, which was followed
by a pops concert in Park Ridge . She repeated her performances of Mozart's
Exultate Jubilate,
Requiem and
Regina Coeli with the Elmhurst Chorale.
She is a recurring artist with the Michigan City Chamber Music Festival. She performed with
international bass, Andrea Silvestrelli, in Barrington Hills. She returned to Rockefeller Chapel
presenting more Bach selections and has been a recurring soprano soloist in Handel's
Messiah .
She was the soprano soloist in Bruckner's Mass with Elmhurst Choral Union. She returned to
Elmhurst Choral Union, singing arias and duets. With South Bend Symphony, she performed in
her first Britten War Requiem. Shortly after she sang the soprano solos in her first Verdi
Requiem with Chicago Community Chorus.
She was very excited to debut in Singapore with the Singapore Chinese Orchestra in an evening
of
Porgy and Bess excerpts and spirituals, and a video. She has recently joined with fellow
sopranos Leila Bowie and Marisa Buchheit, forming the soprano trio group, called simply,
Tres
Belle.
Recent engagements include
Carmina Burana with the Chicago Sinfonietta, Beethoven Mass in
C with the DePaul Community Chorus. She was showcased in Andrew Previn's masterpiece
Honey and Rue at South Shore Opera. She was in the ensemble of Chicago Opera Theater's
production of
A Coffin in Egypt, with legendary mezzo Frederique Von Stade.
She has been a returning guest with Yachatz Festival in Yachatz, Oregon. She performed
Porgy
and Bess excerpts with the Northwest Indiana Symphony and that concert was repeated this fall.
Last winter she returned to Elmhust Choral singing the Respighi's Holy Nativity solos, and was
showcased in the
Christmas Pops concerts with South Bend Symphony for Maestro Tsung Yeh's
retiring season.
She performed with DePaul again in their spring concert, singing several music theatre and
Purcell favorites. One of Kimberly's favorite past times is periodically singing the National
Anthem for the fabulous Chicago Bulls and was chosen to perform the Anthem for the opening
night game for the Chicago Sky WNBA team. Other recent engagements include a
Porgy and
Bess concert with the New Philharmonic and the title role of The Fairy Queen with Chicago
Opera Theater, repeated with Long Beach Opera this past January.
Upcoming engagements include the world premiere of Stewart Copeland's
Invention of Morel
with Chicago Opera Theater as Dora, Dvorak Symphony with Fox Valley Symphony, and
Midsummer Nights' Dream with Fort Wayne Symphony.
Miss Jones is on the voice faculty at Columbia College and Merit School of Music.
Learn more on the Voice and Opera Studio