Prize winner at the Maria Callas Grand Prix, Italian- American soprano Shelley Jackson is quickly establishing herself as a rising star on the international stage. Immediately prior to the pandemic, she sang the title role in Tosca at the Malmö Opera, and returned to the same in 2022 at the Schleswig-Holsteinsche Landestheater for her first production post pandemic, earning praise for her ”enormous vocal quality… powerful, colorful, mellifluous dramatic soprano” (Opernglas) and “outstanding vocal power and exuberant emotionality” (Flensburger Tagblatt). In the upcoming season, Shelley returns to Tosca at the Staddtheater Klagenfurt and the Landestheater Neustrelitz.

In the 2023-2024 season, Shelley made role debuts as Ellen Orford in Peter Grimes, and Violetta in La traviata, both at the Schleswig-Holsteinsche Landestheater. In 2023, Shelley made her debut in the title role of Shostakovich’s Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk, a“radiant dramatic soprano with brilliant high notes” (IOCO) at the Landestheater Detmold, in a new production by Joan Anton Rechi, and sang Tatyana in Eugene Onegin at the Theater und Orchester Neubrandenburg. In 2022, she stepped in at Theater Bielefeld for the opening night and further performances of their new production of La bohème as Mimì, and covered and sang rehearsals of Anna Bolena for Diana Damrau in Opernhaus Zürich’s new production by David Alden, and stepped in for rehearsals of Tosca at the Tiroler Landestheater.

In 2019, Shelley made a series of critically acclaimed role and house debuts: Anna Bolena in a new production at the Opéra de Lausanne and in a return to the Badisches Staatstheater, the title role of Manon and Donna Anna in Don Giovanni with the Mozarteum Orchestra at the Salzburg Landestheater, Tatyana in Eugene Onegin at the Buxton International Festival, and returned to the Teatro Massimo Palermo for Rossini’s Petite Messe Solonelle. In 2018, Shelley made her German house debut as Anna Bolena at the Badisches Staatstheater in Karlsruhe, lauded as a “something of a revelation.. a superbly exciting performance.. she proved herself a bel canto virtuoso.. a singing tragedienne of the highest order.” (Rheinpfalz)

Shelley is a recent graduate of the International Opera Studio at the Opernhaus Zürich, where she made role debuts as Musetta in a new production of La bohème and Micaëla in Carmen, and created the leading role of Song- Lian in the world premiere production of Rote Laterne by Christian Jost. Additional highlights as a studio member at Opernhaus Zürich include the covers of Cecilia Bartoli as Comtesse Adele in Le comte Ory, Diana Damrau as Adina in L’elisir d’amore, and Giulietta in a new production of I Capuleti ed i Montecchi led by Fabio Luisi, as well as productions as Maid Marian in Andreas Homoki’s Robin Hood and die Vertraute in Elektra.

Other recent performances include her house and role debut as Mimì in La bohème at the Haus für Mozart in Salzburg conducted by Mirga Grazinyte-Tyla, her house debut at the Teatro Massimo, Palermo as Micaëla in Calixto Bieito’s production of Carmen, and her UK debut, also singing Micaëla, as part of the the inaugural season at the Grange Festival. She also returned to Santa Fe Opera as the Italian Singer in Capriccio and for Roméo et Juliette, and to the Grange Festival as Mary Crawford in Jonathan Dove’s Mansfield Park and to the role of Mimì in La bohème at Dorset Opera.

Shelley made an unscheduled debut on opening night of the 2014 season at Santa Fe Opera when, as a member of the apprentice program, she stepped in to sing the role of Norina in the new Laurent Pelly production of Don Pasquale, and went on to sing additional performances to high acclaim. As a Santa Fe Opera Apprentice she also sang Iza in The Grand Duchess of Gerolstein, covered Albina in La donna del lago, and won the Judith Raskin and Anna Case McKay Awards. A graduate of the prestigious Academy of Vocal Arts in Philadelphia, her performances there included Violetta in La traviata, Rosina in Il barbiere di Siviglia, and Tatyana in Eugene Onegin. Additional scholastic roles include the title role in Iolanta with Russian Opera Workshop, Susannah for the Philadelphia Fringe Festival, and the Countess in Le Nozze di Figaro with the Peabody Opera Theater.

Shelley’s concert work includes a recital with the Russian Chamber Arts Recital in Washington DC, an artist in residence position at the Baldwin Wallace Art Song Festival, and versimo concerts with the Hamilton Philharmonic Orchestra in Canada, and Il Quintetto Society in Rome. She sang the Vivaldi Gloria and the Mozart Missa Brevis with Diveriticanto in Wintherthur, Switzerland, the Mozart Coronation Mass with the Syracuse Symphony Orchestra, and appeared in opera recitals at the Estonia Concert Hall in Tallinn.

Shelley has received an impressive number of honors and awards, including the Joan Sutherland Prize awarded by Richard Bonynge from the 2016 Veronica Dunne Competition, second place in the Dorothy Lincoln Smith, Giargiari Bel Canto and the Mario Lanza Competitions, and third place in the Concours International de Chant Marmandais. Her past prizes also include the Bertha Koempel Award from the Liederkranz Foundation, grants from the Career Bridges and the Licia Albanese- Puccini Foundations, and the Met Regional Auditions.

Shelley holds an undergraduate degree from the Peabody Conservatory of the Johns Hopkins University in Vocal Performance, a Masters in Opera from the Temple University Boyer College of Music, and a performance certificate from the Academy of Vocal Arts in Philadelphia. In addition, she spent two years of vocal study and role preparation with Mirella Freni at Centro Universale di Bel Canto (CUBEC) in Modena, Italy, where she won the Nicolai Ghiaurov Scholarship. Shelley is an Italian and American dual citizen and lives in Rome.