Nigerian-American soprano Francesca Chiejina is a graduate of the Jette Parker Young Artists Programme at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, where her roles included Countess Ceprano Rigoletto, Lady-in-Waiting Macbeth, Voice from Heaven Don Carlo, and Ines Il trovatore. She is the winner of the 2023 UK Critics’ Circle Young Talent (Voice) Award.
In the 2024/ 2025 season, she performs the New Year’s concert with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and will reprise her role as the soprano soloist in Crystal Pite’s ‘Light of Passage’ with the Royal Ballet.
Recent operatic highlights include: Jo Ann New Year with Birmingham Opera Company; title role Semele with Blackheath Opera; High Priestess Aida at Royal Opera House; Lauretta Il Trittico with Scottish Opera Mimì La bohème (Nevill Holt Opera, English Touring Opera); Melissa Amadigi (English Touring Opera); Miss Jessel The Turn of the Screw (OperaGlass Works); the title role in English Touring Opera’s film of Elena Langer and Glyn Maxwell’s Ariadne; Freia RhineGold (Birmingham Opera Company); Anne Trulove The Rake’s Progress (Blackheath Halls Opera); her debut with Capella Cracoviensis as Aldimira Sigismondo; her house and role debut as Clara Porgy and Bess at Grange Park Opera; and her debut with the Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal (Serena Porgy and Bess).
On the concert platform, she has recently sung Strauss Orchesterlieder with the Orchestra of Opera North and The BBC Philharmonic, Berg’s Seven Early Songs with the Sinfonia of London and John Wilson at the BBC Proms, Mozart’s Requiem with Crouch End Festival Chorus, Barber’s Knoxville: Summer of 1915 with the BBC Philharmonic and with the Royal Northern Sinfonia at the Sage Gateshead; Handel’s Messiah with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra at the Royal Albert Hall; Vaughan Williams’s Serenade to Music at the Last Night of the Proms.
Competition successes include reaching the finals of the inaugural Glyndebourne Opera Cup in 2018, the semi-finals in the National Mozart Competition and winning the GSMD English Song Prize, the GSMD Aria Prize, as well as second prize in the Classical Singer Competition. She was also a finalist in the 2017 Kathleen Ferrier Awards.
Chiejina studied at the University of Michigan with Martha Sheil and James Paterson, and at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama with Sue McCulloch.
This biography is for information only and should not be reproduced.
Nettie Fowler / Rodgers and Hammerstein's Carousel
Sinfonia of London / Chando's Records, September 2024
"Wilson also handpicks a cast of musical theatre performers, adding in operatic mezzo Francesca Chiejina who, as Nettie Fowler, gets to sing the anthemic 'You'll never walk alone' - and does so magnificently."
George Hall, BBC Music Magazine
"The cast . . . is first-rate, with Francesca Chiejina bringing just enough operatic weight to Nettie Fowler."
Erica Jeal, The Guardian
"Francesca Chiejina brings operatic scale to 'You’ll Never Walk Alone'."
Richard Fairman, Financial Times
"Nigerian-American soprano Francesca Chiejina vocalizes Carousel’s most famous number, 'You’ll never walk alone' with thrilling emotion.
"It is hard to imagine Carousel will get a more inspired rendering than this one anytime soon."
Gianmarco Segato, La Scena Musicale
"Then there’s Francesca Chiejina whose contralto colour lends the requisite fruitiness to Netty Fowler’s two big numbers."
Edward Seckerson, Gramophone
"Francesca Chiejina brings operatic power to ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’, as Nettie."
Rebecca Franks, Limelight Magazine
Recital: Songs from My Homeland
Three Choirs Festival, July 2024
"An exemplary afternoon song recital, Songs from My Homeland, was given by the rising-star Nigerian American soprano Francesca Chiejina and the British pianist Jocelyn Freeman. The repertoire choice was ambitious as well as varied, from Benjamin Britten’s On This Island to Samuel Barber’s wistful Knoxville: Summer of 1915 and companion songs by Gerald Finzi, Francis Poulenc, Madeleine Dring, Florence Price and more. Chiejina and Freeman ended their engaging collaboration with three jubilant Yoruba songs (arranged by Ayo Bankole)."
Fiona Maddocks, The Guardian
Michael Tippett's New Year (Jo Ann)
Birmingham Opera Company, July 2024
Francesca Chiejina is heartachingly good as Jo Ann, her radiant soprano strong and sumptuous.
Clive Paget, The Guardian
Francesca Chiejina gave a moving, richly sung performance as Jo Ann
John Allison, Opera Magazine
The Birmingham soloists did the composer proud. Francesca Chiejina had the perfect, soaring lyric soprano for Jo Ann
Hugh Canning's Operalogue
The heart of the show was Chiejina’s Jo Ann – a luminous, intensely touching performance – and her relationship with the time-traveller Pelegrin
Richard Bratby, The Spectator
The main roles are all superbly cast, with Francesca Chiejna outstanding musically and dramatically as Jo Ann
Clare Stevens, The Stage
The clotted text is given power by a strong cast — notably Francesca Chiejina’s Jo Ann
Neil Fisher, The Times
Outstandingly well sung
Nicholas Kenyon, The Telegraph
Jonathan Dove's 'Odyssey' World Premiere
Bristol Beacon, January 2024
Francesca Chiejina was not in need of any additional power and impressed inasmuch as the smaller role of The Mother permitted (she bookends the piece, fearing for the welfare of Him and his siblings, whom she has exiled for their safety).
David Karlin, Bachtrack
Excellent
Rebecca Franks, The Times
'Our Indifferent Century'
Delphian Records, October 2023
Francesca Chiejina has the full measure of the work. She is equally at home in the coloratura of the first verse of ‘Let the florid music praise!’ [On this Island] as she is in the reflective, cantabile second verse. She finds the right tone of irony, and the cheeky, relaxed cabaret/jazzy drawl necessary for the final ‘As it is, plenty’.
William Hedley, MusicWeb International
Chiejina's and Burch's compelling performance is richly mature and painstakingly coloured . . . [her] luxuriant voice always holds our attention.
Natasha Loges, BBC Music Magazine
'Transfigured' album with Kaleidoscope Chamber Collective
Chandos Records, September 2023
Francesco Chiejina’s lustrous soprano brings serious class to Zemlinsky’s Dehmel setting, and also to Alma Mahler’s songs
Malcolm Hayes, BBC Music Magazine
Semele (Title Role)
Blackheath Halls, September 2023
Francesca Chiejina has a richer voice than we usually hear in the title role, but nimble enough for the coloratura trials of Act 3, and her peachy, self-adoring and sensuous Semele was a treat.
Hugh Canning, Opera Magazine
Brimming with dramatic power, Francesca Chiejina’s luscious voice is definitely heading for darker roles. But she can also float top notes with delicious purity, and has the agility to pull off the marathon Myself I Shall Adore.
David Benedict, The Stage
Francesca Chiejina is vivacious as spirited Semele
Claudia Pritchard, Culture Whisper
A complete musical delight
Robert Thicknesse, Opera Now
Brahms Ein Deutsches Requiem / Still Wailing Woman
Alexandra Palace Theatre / July 2023
'[Wailing Woman] gave us our first hearing of Francesca Chiejina, the evening’s exceptional soprano, perfectly summoning up a distillation of sadness and anger.'
'And Ye Now Have no Sorrow was superb: singing from memory, Francesca’s performance was rounded and eloquent: her voice never stressed but passionately expressive.'
David Winskill, HamHigh
Il trittico
Scottish Opera, March 2023
“The only principal to sing in all three operas was Francesca Chiejina, her Young Lover (Tabarro) and her Sister Genovieffa (Angelica) constituting a delicious hors d’oeuvre for a beautifully composed and characterized Lauretta (Schicchi): this soprano has stage presence and a voice of great promise.”
Andrew Clark, Opera
"splendidly characterised by Francesca Chiejina – draws our attention when she goes to the window wanting to see the sun shining on the garden below – and her beautifully sung aria marks her out as a star of the future."
"Amongst the characters, it is the show-stopping aria of Francesca Chiejina as Lauretta (‘O mio babbino caro’) which highlights the talent heard earlier in Suor Angelica."
Gregor Tassie, Seen and Heard International
"Francesca Chiejina was showstopping in Lauretta's “O mio babbino caro”.
David Smythe, bachtrack
"Francesca Chiejina (Lauretta) eschews milking ‘O mio babbino caro’, the best-known song in the evening, and sings with a forthright winsomeness"
Catriona Graham, The Opera Critic
"Il Trittico sports a truly impressive lineup of Scottish Opera debuts, including additional standouts Francesca Chiejina"
Rho Chung, The Skinny
"Francesca Chiejina sings a gorgeously creamy Lauretta."
Simon Thompson, The Times
"a heart-winning Francesca Chiejina, as both sweet ingenue Sister Genovieffa, and Schicchi’s daughter Lauretta complete with a delightful rendition of “O mio babbino caro”
W J Quinn, The Quinntessential Review
Crystal Pite's Light of Passage (Górecki’s Symphony of Sorrowful Songs)
Royal Opera House, October 2022
With soprano Francesca Chiejina's celestial voice suspended above the orchestra’s shimmering, mournful music, you might feel as if you’re transcending
Lyndsey Winship, The Guardian ★★★★
McNally, clutching a bundled coat in place of a lost child, enacts a heart-rending solo to the Virgin’s lament for her son powerfully sung (from the pit) by American soprano Francesca Chiejina.
Louise Levene, The Financial Times ★★★★
Pite’s choreography is here at its most graceful and gorgeous; Gorecki’s third movement (Francesca Chiejina, the solo soprano) is lamenting but consoling.
Debra Craine, The Times ★★★★★
In 2017, the Canadian created Flight Pattern for the Royal Ballet to the first movement of Henryk Górecki’s Symphony of Sorrowful Songs; now she has returned to add Covenant and Passage to the last two movements, responding perfectly to the music (conducted by Zoi Tsokanou and sung, beautifully, by Francesca Chiejina). The three sections are separate but linked by the idea of passage.
Sarah Crompton, The Guardian ★★★★★
Francesca Chiejina's Concert Repertoire
| Bach | Johannes-Passion |
|---|---|
| Barber | Knoxville: Summer of 1915 |
| Berg | Seven Early Songs |
| Elgar | The Kingdom |
| Górecki | Symphony no. 3 |
| Handel | Messiah |
| Mendelssohn | Elijah |
| Mozart | Requiem |
| Schubert | Winterreise |
| Strauss, Richard | Four Last Songs |
| Vaughan Williams | Serenade to Music |
| Verdi | Requiem |
Francesca Chiejina's Opera Repertoire
| Britten | Miss Jessel, The Turn of the Screw |
|---|---|
| Brook adapted from Bizet | Micaela, La tragédie de Carmen |
| Gershwin | Clara, Porgy and Bess Serena, Porgy and Bess |
| Handel | Title Role, Semele Title Role, Alcina Melissa, Amadigi Ifigenia, Orestes |
| Monteverdi | Melantho / Love, The Return of Ulysses |
| Mozart | Arbate, Mitridate, re di Ponto |
| Offenbach | Antonia, Les contes d'Hoffmann |
| Puccini | Mimì, La bohème Lauretta, Gianni Schicchi |
| Rossini | Aldimira, Sigismondo |
| Stravinsky | Ann Trulove, The Rake's Progress |
| Tippett | Jo Ann, New Year |
| Verdi | High Priestess, Aida Countess Ceprano, Rigoletto Lady-In-Waiting, Macbeth Voice from Heaven, Don Carlo Ines, Il Trovatore |
| Wagner | Freia, Das Rheingold |
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