Recent engagements for soprano Janai Brugger include her spectacular success in the role of Pip the cabin boy in Jake Heggie’s Moby-Dick at the Metropolitan Opera of New York for which she won outstanding reviews.
She sang the role of Tovah Odesska in Aaron Zigman’s Émigré conducted by Long Yu with Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Germany, and with Hong Kong Philharmonic. The artist returns to Ravinia Festival for Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 with Marin Alsop, sings Bruckner’s Psalm 150 and Margaret Bonds’ Credo at Grant Park Music Festival and joins other principal artists to participate in The Metropolitan Opera’s 2025 Summer Park Series.
Future engagements include her debut as Donna Elvira Don Giovanni at the Metropolitan Opera and another debut as Mimi La Boheme at Los Angeles Opera; she also appears at The Met for Michaela Carmen, joins Seattle Symphony for the first time to sing Poulenc’s Stabat Mater, travels to Minneapolis to appear in a specially curated program of Florence Price songs, Heart of a Woman, a program she also takes to Great Britain to sing with City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, sings Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony with Sacramento Philharmonic and she rounds out the season with her return to Grant Park Music Festival.
Miss Brugger’s recent successes include her role debut in the title role of Carlisle Floyd’s Susannah at Opera Theatre of St. Louis, performances as Servillia in La Clemenza di Tito, Zerlina in Don Giovanni and Pamina in The Magic Flute at Ravinia Festival, a role she previously sang at the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, London and at the Metropolitan Opera — and her outstanding success as Mary Jane Bower in Houston Grand Opera’s world premiere of Jake Heggie’s Intelligence. The artist sang the role of Glauce in Cherubini’s Medea at the Metropolitan Opera and at Canadian Opera Company, Susanna in Le Nozze di Figaro at Los Angeles Opera, Liu in Turandot at Lyric Opera of Chicago, and she traveled to Poland to sing Mahler’s Second Symphony under Marin Alsop. She also made her Glyndebourne Festival debut and her BBC Proms debut as Michaela in Carmen.
Past concert engagements include Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony with Munich Philharmonic Orchestra and with Chicago Symphony Orchestra at Ravinia Festival under Marin Alsop, Poulenc’s Gloria with Bozeman Symphony Orchestra and Mahler’s Second Symphony with Detroit Symphony Orchestra and Jader Bignamini conducting. Brugger returned to Mahler’s Fourth Symphony with Yannick Nézet-Séguin and the Philadelphia Orchestra and with Detroit Symphony Orchestra before joining the American Symphony Orchestra at Carnegie Hall to sing Elgar’s The Kingdom.
With the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, she performed Beethoven’s Choral Fantasy and Mass in C with Louis Langree. At Grant Park Music Festival, she sang performances of Haydn’s Theresienmesse and made her Salzburg Festival debut in Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony with music Aeterna, conducted by Teodor Currentzis and later journeyed to St. Petersburg to record it with him.
The artist returned to Dutch National Opera for its acclaimed Missa in tempore Belli (Haydn) conducted by Lorenzo Viotti and directed by Barbora Horáková, and also appeared in their new production of Porgy and Bess as Clara, which she went on to sing at the Metropolitan Opera. At Lyric Opera of Chicago, she sang the role of Ilia in Idomeneo and at Cincinnati Opera, she appeared as Susanna in Le nozze di Figaro.
At her artistic home of Los Angeles Opera, she sang the role of Servilia in La Clemenza di Tito, a role she previously sang at Dutch National Opera.
Past career highlights include performances at the Metropolitan Opera in her role debut as Jemmy in Guillaume Tell, Michaela in Carmen, Pamina and Marzelline in Fidelio. Identified by Opera News as one of their top 25 “brilliant young artists” (October 2015 issue), she appeared in the Met’s Rising Stars concert series, and in earlier seasons as Liù and as Helena in The Enchanted Island. She also sang performances with Los Angeles Philharmonic and the Philadelphia Orchestra both for Mahler’s Fourth Symphony under Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla; in her hometown of Chicago, she starred in Emmy Award-winning composer Laura Karpman’s multimedia setting of Langston Hughes’s epic 1961 poem, Ask Your Mama, with Chicago Sinfonietta.
Brugger made her debut as Juliette Roméo et Juliette and Norina in Don Pasquale at Palm Beach Opera, where she later sang Susanna, and as Pamina in Barrie Kosky’s celebrated cinematic production at Los Angeles Opera; she sang Michaela Carmen with Opera Colorado and High Priestess Aida at the Hollywood Bowl with Los Angeles Philharmonic under Gustavo Dudamel.
The artist obtained a master’s degree from the University of Michigan, where she studied with Shirley Verrett. She received her bachelor’s degree from DePaul University, where she studied with Elsa Charlston. In 2010, Brugger participated in the Merola Opera Program at San Francisco Opera, and went on to become a young artist at Los Angeles Opera for two seasons. She is a 2012 winner of both Operalia and the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions.
Please note: Biographies are based on information provided to the CSOA by the artists or their representatives. More current information may be available on websites of the artists or their management.
