Former Seagle Festival Artists are now performing in opera houses throughout the United States and across the world including The Metropolitan Opera, Houston Grand Opera, San Francisco Opera, Washington National Opera, Santa Fe Opera, Dallas Opera, Glimmerglass Opera and many others. Other former artists have had leading Broadway roles and many are teaching vocal arts and theatre related subjects at the college level.
Many former artists keep in touch via subscription to our online newsletter, The Chronicle.
Spotlight on Jeni Houser (2011)
Seagle Festival audiences will remember Jeni Houser in the unforgettable role of the doll Olympia in The Tales of Hoffman during the summer of 2011. Since her summer as Seagle, Jeni has conquered stages around the world.
Opera News lauded her performances as “commanding and duplicitous, yet also vulnerable. She has a bright future above the staff.” In the 2025-26 season, she made her debut with the Utah Symphony singing Orff’s Carmina Burana, sang her first performances of Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 in a return to the Madison Symphony Orchestra, returned to the Metropolitan Opera for its production of Arabella, and made her Santa Fe Opera debut as The Queen of the Night in Die Zauberflöte, her signature role. The coming year sees a return to the Metropolitan Opera and a debut at Florentine Opera in Milwaukee in this singular role.
Recent appearances include Mabel in The Pirates of Penzance with Charlottesville Opera, and performances at the Grand Teton Musical Festival, the Metropolitan Opera, Los Angeles Opera, and Dallas Opera as Queen of the Night in Die Zauberflöte, a role she has also sung to great acclaim with Minnesota Opera, Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, Cincinnati Opera, Central City Opera, and Kentucky Opera. She made her role debut as Lucia di Lammermoor in a return to Madison Opera and repeated the role at the Seoul Arts Center in Korea. She returned to the Dallas Opera stage as the title role in The Golden Cockerel. With the Wiener Staatsoper, she made her international debut as Frantzi in the world premiere of Staud’s Die Weiden, after which she joined the company for its productions of Die Zauberflöte and Trojahn’s Orest.
Jeni has sung Zerbinetta in Ariadne auf Naxos with Austin Opera and Minnesota Opera; at the latter, she also sang Susanna in Le nozze di Figaro, the Charmeuse in Thaïs, and Mrs. Grady in the world premiere of Paul Moravec’s The Shining. With Madison Opera, she has previously sung Cunegonde in Candide, Olympia in Les contes d’Hoffmann, Johanna in Sweeney Todd, Anne Egerman in A Little Night Music, and Amy in Adamo’s Little Women.
On the concert stage, she has previously sung Orff’s Carmina Burana with Phoenix Symphony, Madison Symphony, Las Vegas Philharmonic, Florida Orchestra and Atlanta Ballet, and Brahms’ Ein deutsches Requiem, Haydn’s Creation, and Mozart’s Requiem with Abendmusik: Lincoln.
The soprano is also an alumna of the young artist programs of the Glimmerglass Festival, Virginia Opera, and Opera Saratoga. She won second place at the Nicholas Loren Vocal Competition, was a two-time regional finalist in the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, and was a national semifinalist in the NATS Artist Award Competition. She is Assistant Professor of Voice at the University of Notre Dame.
You can keep up to date with Jeni on her website: www.jenihouser.com
Here are some other former Seagle Festival artists to watch for:
Javier Abreu, tenor (2000-2001) – website
Michael Adams, baritone (2012-2013) – website
Alissa Anderson, contralto (2002-2004) – website
Vanessa Becerra, soprano (2011-2012) – website
David Blalock, tenor (2008-2009) – website
Ryan Bowie, tenor (2004-2007) – website
Seth Mease Carico, bass-baritone (2002-2004) – website
Andrea Carroll, soprano (2009-2010) – website
Terrence Chin-Loy, tenor (2013) – website
Hailey Clark, soprano (2009, 2010) – website
Eric Ferring, tenor (2011-2013) – website
Jonas Hacker, tenor (2011-2012) – website
Jeni Houser, soprano (2011) – website
Christopher Humbert (2019) – website
Wes Mason, baritone (2005-2008) – website
Alicia Olatuja (Myles) (2001-2002) – website
Sean Panikkar, tenor (2002) – website
Michael Porter, tenor (2010-2011) – website
Anthony Reed, bass (2010-2011) – website
Emily Richter (2021) – website
Amanda Sheriff, soprano (2019) – website
Reginald Smith, Jr. (2010) – website
Jack Swanson, tenor (2012-2013) – website
Christopher Temporelli, bass-baritone (2001-2002) – website
Wm. Clay Thompson, bass (2013-2014) – website
Mack Wolz, mezzo-soprano (2016) – website
Kyle White, baritone (2015-2017) – website
