Jessie Shulman
British mezzo-soprano Jessie Shulman is a versatile and dynamic performer praised for her "warm, velvety sound" (Lauri's List) and "plum-velvet mezzo voice" (Broadway World). With an extensive background in opera and classical repertoire, she is an avid performer of concert works with orchestra, art song, choral and chamber music.
As a professional SAG-AFTRA session singer, Jessie’s voice can be heard in many major motion pictures including Mulan, Frozen II, Jungle Cruise, Jumanji: The Next Level, The Lion King, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker and The Last Jedi, The Secret Life of Pets 2, Ralph Breaks the Internet, and many more. Other ensemble projects include background vocals for Da Baby's performance at the 63rd Annual Grammy Awards, the opening credits of Outlander (Season 5: "The Skye Boat Song"), and the national DIRECTV commercial, “More For Your Thing: Signs”. Jessie's keen musicianship, stylistic versatility, and adaptability make her invaluable to any recording or performance project.
Recent live performances include Respighi's "Il Tramonto" with the Fiato Quartet, Jessie’s debut with the L.A. Chamber Orchestra for their Baroque Conversations series, and mezzo-soprano soloist in the Duruflé Requiem with the LA Master Chorale at Walt Disney Concert Hall, in which her rendition of ‘Pié Jesu’ was hailed as “amazing” (Seen and Heard International), and her voice "soared with melting ease.” (San Francisco Classical Voice).
During the 2018/19 season Jessie was alto soloist in Handel's Messiah with the LA Master Chorale at Walt Disney Concert Hall, under the direction of maestro Grant Gershon, where she "demonstrated her vocal versatility," (LA Excites). Jessie also partnered with the acclaimed Fiato Quartet for performances of Respighi's Il Tramonto and Barber's Dover Beach, and reprised the Respighi for The Music Guild's 74th season. 2018 also saw Jessie make her debut with Pacific Opera Project as the "sagaciously flirtatious" (LA Times) Madama La Rose in Rossini's La gazzetta, the second ever U.S. staging of the work. In the 2017/18 season, Jessie was alto soloist in the LA Master Chorale’s annual Messiah Sing-Along at Walt Disney Concert Hall. Her 2016/17 season included her debut with the San Bernardino Symphony alto soloist in Beethoven's Symphony no. 9, as well as her solo debut with the LA Master Chorale. As a member of the chorale, Jessie has performed at both Walt Disney Concert Hall and the Hollywood Bowl, under maestros Gustavo Dudamel, Grant Gershon, Zubin Mehta, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Michael Tilson Thomas, and many others. She has sung with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the New York Philharmonic, the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Other performances and projects include Tisbe in Rossini’s La Cenerentola with Center Stage Opera, mezzo-soprano soloist in Verdi’s Requiem at the Bob Cole Conservatory of Music, and a studio recording of Ravel's Chansons madécasses and Falla's Psyché set for commercial release next year.
Jessie's affinity for art song and lieder has led to many recitals and concerts, most notably as mezzo-soprano soloist for Berlioz’s orchestral song cycle Les nuits d'été with the Brandon Hill Chamber Orchestra in Bristol, UK. Jessie’s interpretation of the songs of Mahler and Brahms won her the 2011 Harold Heiberg Liedersänger Preis at the American Institute of Musical Studies in Graz, Austria. Jessie is a former member of the Chicago Symphony Chorus and Cincinnati Opera Chorus. She made her debut with Cincinnati Opera in 2013 as Third Noble Orphan in Strauss’ Der Rosenkavalier.
Jessie holds a Master of Music degree in Voice from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (CCM), where she studied with Kenneth Shaw, and won the Emelie M. Dieterle Memorial Scholarship. She received her Bachelor of Music degree in Opera Performance from the Bob Cole Conservatory at California State University, Long Beach (CSULB), where she studied with Tim MacDougall. While at CSULB, she won the Howard L. Still Memorial Scholarship for Opera, and the Dramatic Allied Arts Guild Scholarship for Vocal Music. Jessie is an alumna of the Aspen Opera Theater Center, and OperaWorks Advanced Artist Program.
Born and raised in England, Jessie grew up in an extremely musical family of classical string players and singers. She moved to California in 2000, and currently resides in Pasadena with her husband and their Blue Heeler, Nellie. She is a full time member of the Los Angeles Master Chorale, a SAG-AFTRA session singer, and continues to perform with various companies and projects around the United States.