Jennifer Szeto

Collaborative Pianist/Vocal Coach, ‘Celebrations’ concert collaborator

Jennifer Szeto carves a dynamic path as a pianist, administrator, and pedagogue. Praised for “an immense sweetness and precision which seemed to be flawless” (L’Opéra) and “amazing versatility” (Opera Ramblings), she is a distinguished graduate of L’Atelier lyrique de l’Opéra de Montréal, San Francisco Opera’s Adler Fellowship, Canadian Opera Company Ensemble Studio, and the Merola Opera Program.

A sought-after collaborator for contemporary creation, Jennifer served five seasons as Founding Artistic Director of Musique 3 Femmes, a creation company which commissions and develops operas by female creators, with an emphasis on fostering emerging composers and librettists in the field. Highlights from her tenure include 11 new commissions and leading the world premieres of Keiko Devaux’s L’Écoute du perdu with Paramirabo and Le Vivier at Fonderie Darling with stage direction by Marie Brassard, Inconnu at Berlin’s UfaFabrik as part of the Frankfurt Fair, Triptyque with La Société de musique contemporaine du Québec (with works by Sonia Paço-Rocchia, MEB, Maria Reva, Anna Pidgorna, Parisa Sabet and Nika Khanjani), along with workshops for emerging artists focused on new creation at 11 universities across Canada, including in Quebec, Ontario, Alberta, Saskatchewan, British Columbia, and New Brunswick.

For Opéra de Montréal, Jennifer was most recently pianist for George Benjamin’s Written On Skin and Golijov’s Ainadamar. She was music director in the world premiere of Laurence Jobidon and Pascale St-Onge’s L’hiver attend beaucoup de moi, acclaimed by the Montreal Theatre Hub as “exactly what opera needs... bold, contemporary, poetic, political, feminist, theatrical, well-executed, and not afraid of traditionalists....”

Jennifer sits on the Board of Directors of the Association for Opera in Canada, where she was a mentor in their RBC Future Launch Fellowship. Previously, she was Program Manager for Women in Musical Leadership conducting fellowship, a national program for emerging female and non-binary conductors by Tapestry Opera in partnership with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra and Pacific Opera Victoria. In 2023, she joins Opera America’s Leadership Intensive, a program for rising leaders in opera administration. A passionate advocate for young artists and the field at large, Jennifer begins her tenure in 2023/24 as the Director of the Atelier lyrique at Opéra de Montréal.