Hailed by the New York Times as a soprano of "gleaming sound, free and easy high notes, agile coloratura runs and lyrical grace", Jessica Pratt is considered one of today's foremost interpreters of some of Belcanto's most challenging repertoire.
After completing her vocal studies in Italy with Renata Scotto and Maestro Gianluigi Gelmetti at Rome Opera she now prepares her roles with Lella Cuberli. British-born and raised in Australia, Ms. Pratt currently lives in Italy with her adopted dogs and cats.
Since her European debut in 2007 as Lucia di Lammermoor Ms. Pratt's schedule has included performances at opera theatres and festivals around the world such as Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, Arena di Verona, Gran Teatre del Liceu, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Opera Australia, Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Staatsoper Hamburg, Teatro Real Madrid, Teatro San Carlo, Teatro alla Scala, The Metropolitan Opera and Théâtre des Champs-Elysées and has collaborated with conductors such as Carlo Rizzi, Daniel Oren, Daniele Gatti, David Parry, Francesco Ivan Ciampa, Gianandrea Noseda, Gustavo Dudamel, Ivor Bolton, Kent Nagano, Marc Minkowski, Nello Santi, Riccardo Frizza, Roberto Abbado, Sir Colin Davis and Zubin Mehta.
Very soon we will hear her in her debut as Costanza, in Mozart's Die Entführung aus dem serail for ABAO in Bilbao and as Costanza, in Mozart's Die Entführung aus dem serail for Teatro alla Scala in Milan. This last year she has appeared as Olympia, in Offenbach's Les contes d'Hoffmann for Opéra Royal de Wallonie in Liege, in her debut as Beatrice di Tenda, in Bellini's Beatrice di Tenda for Teatro San Carlo in Naples, in “Bravo Bellini” for Victorian Opera in Melbourne, in “Plácido Domingo - Arena 100” conducted by Francesco Ivan Ciampa for Arena di Verona, in “Delirio” for Opera Australia in Sydney, as Antonia, Giulietta, Stella, Olympia, in Offenbach's Les contes d'Hoffmann for Opera Australia in Sydney, in Recital with piano for Oper Frankfurt, accompanied by Vincenzo Scalera, as Lucia Ashton, in Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor for Opera Las Palmas, as Donna Anna, in Mozart's Don Giovanni conducted by Zubin Mehta for Opera di Firenze in Florence, as Elvira, in Bellini's I Puritani for Théâtre des Champs-Elysées in Paris, in “Jauchzet Gott in allen Landen BWV 51” conducted by Daniele Gatti for Opera di Firenze in Florence, in her debut as Francesca da Rimini, in Mercadante's Francesca da Rimini for Oper Frankfurt, as Amina, in Bellini's La Sonnambula for Opéra Royal de Wallonie in Liege and as Amina, in Bellini's La Sonnambula for Teatro Real Madrid. In the near future we will see her in her debut as Costanza, in Mozart's Die Entführung aus dem serail for ABAO in Bilbao and as Costanza, in Mozart's Die Entführung aus dem serail for Teatro alla Scala in Milan.
As one of the most active singers in her field, over the last 16 years, Jessica has taken to the stage in 141 productions for 92 different organizers, in 80 cities over 13 countries. She has interpreted 47 different roles of which the most popular is Lucia Ashton from Gaetano Donizetti's “Lucia di Lammermoor” with over 115 shows in 39 productions, followed by Amina from Vincenzo Bellini's “La Sonnambula” and Elvira from Vincenzo Bellini's “I Puritani”.
Her discography includes CD recordings of Rossini's “Otello”, Vaccai's “La sposa di Messina” and DVD/Blu-Ray recordings of “Giovanna d'Arco” from the Festival Valle d'Itria, “Adelaide di Borgogna”, “Ciro in Babilonia” and “Aureliano in Palmira” from the Rossini Opera Festival, the 2012 “New Year's Gala Concert” and Bellini's “La sonnambula” from Teatro La Fenice in Venice and Donizetti's "Le Convenienze ed Inconvenienze Teatrali" from Teatro alla Scala in Milan. In 2016 her first solo album “Serenade” was released by Opus Arte. Upcoming releases include a DVD of Ronconi's “Lucia di Lammermoor” with Teatro dell'Opera di Roma, conducted by Roberto Abbado and a DVD of Donizetti's “Rosmonda d'Inghilterra” with Festival Donizetti of Bergamo.
Ms. Pratt is the winner of numerous international vocal competitions, including the ”Australian Singing Competition” and the ”Vienna State Opera Award”. In May 2013 she was awarded the prestigious international prize for coloratura sopranos La Siola d'Oro “Lina Pagliughi”. In September 2016 she was awarded the “Oscar della Lirica”, International Opera Award as Best Soprano of the year.