Senior Lecturer in Classical Voice at the New Zealand School of Music, Jenny Wollerman is one of New Zealand’s best known sopranos. A soloist with all major arts organisations in New Zealand, her Australian performances have included Lutoslawski’s ‘Chantefleurs et Chantefables’ with Tasmanian Symphony and Ravel’s ‘Shéhérazade’ song cycle with the West Australian and Adelaide Symphony orchestras.
Noted for her expressive interpretations of new works, Jenny has premiered numerous compositions. In 2014 she was soloist for Anthony Ritchie’s Stations: Symphony No. 4 with the Christchurch Symphony, which was nominated for MusicWeb International’s Recording of the Year. Other recent performances include Villa-Lobos’s Bachianas Brasileiras No. 5 at the 2017 Adam Chamber Music Festival, Secrets of Sea and Space with New Zealand String Quartet for the 2020 Aotearoa New Zealand Festival of the Arts, Fragments from Wozzeck with Auckland Philharmonia, Ritchie’s Gallipoli to the Somme, Ross Harris’ The Floating Bride, and Jenny McLeod’s opera Hohepa.
‘Between Darkness and Light’, her CD of art songs with Michael Houstoun has been featured on the Air New Zealand in-flight play list, and her Atoll CD of songs by Ross Harris and Vincent O’Sullivan, ‘Making Light of Time’, is distributed by Naxos and available on online platforms. As part of her project to commission, record and publish 21 songs by 21 female composers from New Zealand, Jenny performed the complete set for the 2022 Aotearoa New Zealand Festival of the Arts with pianist Jian Liu, with the CD recording and song scores published in 2023 by Atoll and Waiteata Music Press.