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Jennifer Larmore  is an American mezzo-soprano, a Grammy winner with over one hundred recordings to her name, a Chevalier of the French government, Richard Tucker winner, Georgia Hall of Fame inductee,  voice teacher and an author! Add straight actress to the list with her appearance in a Netflix series entitled King the Land aired in July/August 2023. 

 

She has a wide-ranging repertoire, having begun with coloratura roles from the Baroque and bel canto then adding music from the  Romantic and Contemporary periods.  Miss Larmore began her career as "Rosina" in Il Barbiere di Siviglia" in San Diego in 1981. She made her European operatic debit at Opera de Nice in 1986 with Mozart's La Clemenza di Tito and went on to sing at virtually every major opera house in the world, including the Metropolitan Opera, La Scala, Paris Opera, Tokyo, Berlin Deutsche Oper, and London Covent Garden.

 

She recorded widely for  Teldec, RCA, Harmonia Mundi, Deutsche Grammophon, Arabesque, Opera Rara, Bayer, Naive, Chandos, VAI and Cedille in over one hundred CDs as well as DVDs of “Countess Geschwitz” in Lulu, Jennifer Larmore in Performance for VAI, Il Barbiere di Siviglia (Netherlands Opera), L'Italiana in Algeri (Opera de Paris), La Belle Hélène (Hamburg State Opera), Orlando Furioso (Opera de Paris) and Jenufa (Deutsche Oper Berlin). She has recorded three charming books on tape as narrator for Atlantic Crossing Records with stories by Kim Maerkl entitled Mozart's Magical Night with Hélène Grimaud and the Bavarian State Orchestra, Puccini’s Enchanted Journey with story by Kim Maerkl, and The King’s Daughter with story and music for flute and string orchestra by Kim Maerkl with the flute player Natalie Schwaabe.

 

With the pianist Antoine Palloc, she has made many International recital tours, including appearances in Amsterdam, Paris, Madrid, Hong Kong, Seoul, Tokyo, Vietnam, Vienna, London, San Juan, Prague, Melbourne, Brussels, Berlin, Rio de Janeiro, Lisbon, Sao Paolo, Athens and Copenhagen, as well as all the major American venues. Symphonic repertoire has played a large role in this mezzo’s career with the works of Mahler, Schoenberg, Mozart, de Falla, Debussy, Berlioz and Barber featuring prominently. Miss Larmore has enjoyed great collaborations with world orchestras under the direction of Muti, Lopez-Cobos, Bernstein, Runnicles, Sinopoli, Masur, von Dochnanyi, Jacobs, Mackerras, Nelson, Spinosi, Abbado, Barenboim, Bonynge, Maazel, Osawa and Guidarini.

 

Jennifer’s repertoire expanded to include roles such as "Marie" in Berg's masterpiece Wozzeck, which she sang to great success at the Grand Théâtre de Genève. Berg became a specialty of Miss Larmore, with her having sung “Countess Geschwitz” in Berg's Lulu at Covent Garden in the Christof Loy production with Antony Pappano, then again in Madrid. At Paris Opera Bastille she sang in the Willy Decker production and reprised the role yet again in a new production of William Kentridge with Lothar Zagrosek conducting for the Nederlandse Opera, and at the Rome Opera. She became well known for "Kostelnička Buryjovka" in Janacek's Jenůfa which she performed with Donald Runnicles at Berlin Deutsche Oper. The DVD of this production was nominated for a Grammy. She reprised her "Kostelnička" in this same production for the New National Theater in Tokyo.  “Lady Macbeth” in Verdi’s opera Macbeth is a role she debuted in a striking new production of Christof Loy at the Grand Théâtre de Genève, then in the Robert Wilson production in Bologna and Reggio Emilia. Her first “Eboli” was in the French version of Don Carlos at the Caramoor Music Festival in New York, with Will Crutchfield conducting, and she sang “Jocasta” in Stravinsky’s Oedipus Rex at the Bard Festival. Adding to her growing list of new repertoire, Miss Larmore debuted the role of  "Mère Marie" in Les dialogues des carmélites at the Caramoor Festival, New York. She went back to her roots with "Ottavia" in Monteverdi's l'Incoronazione di Poppea at the Theater an der Wien in October 2015 and returned there in December 2016 for her debut in the role of "Elvira" in Mozart's Don Giovanni. Debuts for more new roles came in 2017 with the title role of La Belle Hélène at Hamburg State Opera, and then "Anna 1" in Kurt Weill's The Seven Deadly Sins for the Atlanta Opera. In 2018 she debuted the role of "La Dama" in Hindemith's Cardillac for the Maggio Musicale in Firenze, "Fidalma" In Il Matrimonio Segreto for Opera Köln, and "Marcellina" In Le Nozze di Figaro in Tokyo.  Engagements in 2019 included concerts in Grenoble, Olten and Magève with OpusFive, "Marcellina" in Paris at the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, and she returned to Opera Köln in the title role of a new production in her on-going collaboration with Renaut Doucet and André Barbe of La Grand Duchesse de Gérolstein.

 

2020 was an interesting year because she debuted “Herodias” in Salome for the Atlanta Opera before going into lockdown.  She reprised her "Herodias" at the New National Theater in Tokyo in May, 2023. Jennifer debuted yet more new roles when she sang "Madelon" in Andrea Chenier and the “Countess" in Pique Dame both for the Deutsche Oper, Berlin as well as the Countess for Opera Regio di Torino in May, June 2025. 

 

Miss Larmore, in collaboration with the double bass player Davide Vittone,  created an ensemble called Jennifer Larmore and OpusFive. This was a string quintet offering entertaining programs of Songs and Arias, Cabaret/Operetta and Movies and Broadway. They have given concerts in Seville, Pamplona, Valencia, Las Palmas, Venice, Amiens, Olten, Aix en Provence, Dublin, and Paris. At the Magève Festival in August, 2018 they presented a World Premiere work by composer Scott Eyerly, called Creatures Great and Small on the theme of animals. In July of 2022, Jennifer and OpusFive performed at the Liestal Stimmen zu Gast Festival in a program entitled America! In 2026 Jennifer will add yet another role to her repertoire with Mother Goose in Stravinsky's The Rake's Progress for the Rome opera. In 2027 she is slated to sing Herodias in Salome for the Teatro Regio, Torino. 

 

Throughout her career Jennifer Larmore has garnered awards and recognition. In 1994 Jennifer won the prestigious Richard Tucker Award. In 1996 she sang the Olympic Hymn at the Closing Ceremonies of the Olympics in Atlanta. In 2002, “Madame” Larmore was awarded the Chevalier des arts et des lettres from the French government in recognition of her contributions to the world of music. In 2010 she was inducted into the Georgia Music Hall of Fame in her home state of Georgia.  In addition to her many activities, travels, performances and causes, author Jennifer Larmore is working on books that will bring a wider public to the love of opera. Her book "Una Voce" is available at Barnes & Noble, Amazon, and Lulu.com and explores the world and psychology of the performer:   web site: jlarmorebook.com.

 

Miss Larmore is widely known for teaching and giving master classes starting in the year 2000! Just to name a few of her masterclass venues:  Atlanta, New York's Manhattan School of Music, Mannes School, SUNY Purchase College,  Oberlin, Eastman, Northwestern University, Los Angeles, Santiago, Chile, Luxembourg,  École Normale and  the Philippe Jaroussky Academy in Paris, the Folkestone Tosti Academy in Folkestone, UK, the Kiefersfelden Master Classes and Utah Valley University, Malta, Tirol, Lausanne, Sion, Martina Franca, Valencia, Vienna Staatsoper,  Klagenfurt, Manchester, MusicFest Perugia, Stockholm, Lucca,  Martina Franca and St Petersburg. Jennifer is now a visiting professor at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester, UK,  The Palau des Artes in Valencia, Spain, for the Cascais Opera and the Anton Rubinstein Academy in St Petersburg, Russia. 

 

Miss Larmore lives in Paris with her husband, the bass player Davide Vittone and their little Opera dog Buffy.

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Hi everyone!

My FINAL GOODBYE to the stage will take place on April 17, 2027 at the Teatro Regio Torino with the role of "Herodias" in Salome. After forty-five years of a wonderful career of which I am immensely proud, I am ready to devote my time to teaching and advocating for young singers which is a passion near and dear to my heart. 

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I have given masterclasses and taught privately for thirty-five years and during that time have loved it all! Singing has been an incredible ride filled with so much emotion that it's hard to put it all down in a paragraph, but I will say that the people I've met along the way, the glorious musical experiences, the dreams realised and even the rejections and heartbreak have all been a part of my personal journey and unique to my experience as a person and as a singer. My identity was never just being a singer. It encompassed sister, daughter, friend, wife, artist, actress, writer, teacher, listener, advocator, dog mom, as well as being a person who loves to learn all across the board, be it new vocabulary, new languages, historical novels, do it yourself jobs at home, new tech, or just about anything that strikes my interest! 

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At fourteen years of age I decided I wanted to be an opera singer. I said that one day I would sing at the Metropolitan Opera. Seventy-five Met Opera appearances later mixed with opera, concert and recital performances at all the great venues of the world, my voice used in more movies than I can count, and TV appearances to boot, I want to say goodbye to this lovely experience while I can still sing!  This is a happy decision made after a lot of reflection. 

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Thank you so much for going along with me and supporting me for so many years! Nobody can have a career like this on their own. It takes so many people, the right opportunities, a bit of luck, reinvention many times, a burning and a near masochistic desire to succeed, good health, resistance to rejection, a positive attitude, knowing when to keep your mouth shut and when to open it, in my case a little canine to keep me grounded, a fascination for the thrill of the deal, good fundraising ability, thinking outside the box, a willingness to try almost anything onstage, super human strength at times, an understanding that whenever the big things in life occur in your family such as birth, marriage, graduation, or death, you will be halfway across the globe singing, an aversion to fear or anything that could potentially keep you from going on that stage, integrity that allows you a good night's sleep and a deep and abiding love for the music itself. That's all it takes!  

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I have been lucky to have a family and select friends who have supported me every step of the way. For that I will never be able to thank them enough. My fans have been the best in the world, sticking up for me, paying their hard earned money for tickets to my performances, writing in my favor on Social Media, filling the seats at concerts and recitals, writing to me letters that warmed my heart, and being there when I needed just that extra bit of support to keep me going. For you, I will be forever grateful and humbled that you were elevated even the tiniest bit by what I tried to give as an artist. So, thank you from the bottom of my heart.

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To all the agents, Intendants, casting directors, stage directors, conductors, stage managers, publicity managers, costume designers, props people and all the stagehands that had to deal with me, I also thank you! I tried always to be respectful and kind and I am immensely thankful to you for everything you did for me.

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Forty-five years of dreams fulfilled, music learned and memorised, stages trodden upon, planes, trains, buses, cars, taxis, luggage lugged, dining with Kings and Queens, Grammys, Awards, the thing that stands out the most for me are the friendships I made along the way, and the people I met. With some I had an instant connection that has lasted to this day. Without the people behind the scenes working hard on a show, or planning the schedules, making the costumes, the ones calming you down when you need it, getting you from here to there on time, feeding you, smiling at you, and supporting you, it simply cannot get done. I feel very lucky to have had such wonderful people in my life and career. 

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I am saying goodbye to the stage but not to teaching which is my passion! I look forward to devoting my time to this and to many other projects dear to my heart. Who knows what other opportunities will present themselves?! Thank you from the bottom of my heart to everyone who has followed me over the years and have been close to me on this incredible journey!