Kerry Jennings

Tenor

Tenor Kerry Lee Jennings holds the Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Music, and Master of Music Degrees from the University of Washington and the Doctor of Musical Arts Degree in Vocal Performance from the University of Maryland at College Park. His teachers have included Julian Patrick, Carmen Pelton, François Loup, and Gran Wilson. Dr. Jennings enjoys a career that encompasses opera, oratorio, recital, and chamber works. On the operatic stage, performance highlights include over twenty lead and supporting roles comprised of early, standard and contemporary repertoire. Recent performances have included Acis in Acis and Galatea, Tenor Soloist in Orff’s Carmina Burana, Roderick in Glass’s The Fall of the House of Usher, performances of Ned Rorem’s Evidence of Things Not Seen (Vocal Arts Society of DC’s initiative, America Sings in the Nation’s Capital and Texoma NATS Artist Series) and the Mozart Requiem with the Symphony of Southeast Texas. Upcoming engagements include the premiers of the opera Midsummer at Earlham College and If I Shall Ever Return Home: Seven Chinese Poems by David Arbury in Phoenix, AZ, as well as tenor soloist for Puccini’s Messa di Gloria with the Houston Camerata. As a concert soloist, he has appeared additionally in Bach's Magnificat, Handel's Messiah, Haydn's Lord Nelson Mass and Creation, Mozart's Coronation Mass, Schubert's Mass in G Major, The Seven Last Words of Christ by Dubois, The Christmas Oratorio by Saint-Saëns, Kurt Weill's The Seven Deadly Sins, and Fonseca’s Missa Afro-Brasileira.

An accomplished recitalist, Kerry won the Debut Recital Tour Competition sponsored by the Ladies Musical Club of Seattle, which included his second appearance on 98.1 Classical King-FM's Live, By George!, as well as performances in many venues across the state of Washington. He is one of only 3 tenors to have won the competition since its inception in 1985. Other notable winners have been Jeffrey Francis, Heidi Grant Murphy and Kelley Nassief. Dr. Jennings was also a District Winner and Regional Finalist in the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions. A strong proponent of educational outreach, Kerry has performed for thousands of students throughout the United States with the touring organizations Northwest Opera In Schools Etcetera (NOISE) and Opera for Kids by FBN Productions.

Dr. Jennings' students are regularly winners at the state and regional levels of the Student Auditions sponsored by the National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS) and other notable vocal competitions. Many have gone on to prestigious graduate programs and have also garnered praise for their work on stage in operatic and musical theater performances in summer programs and with professional companies throughout the US and Europe. Dr. Jennings has taught at Frostburg State University and Towson University and was the Vocal Area Coordinator at Old Dominion University and Lamar University. He is now an Assistant Professor of Voice at DePauw University where he teaches Applied Voice, Diction for Singers and directs the Opera and Musical Theatre Scenes Programs. He is an active member of the College Music Society, Opera America, the National Opera Association, and the National Association of Teachers of Singing.