Hailed as an “exciting dramatic soprano” (Opera Canada) and for her “command over a powerful range of expressive emotion” (The Whole Note), Jaclyn Grossman is a soprano, curator, and administrator from Toronto, Canada. She was most recently a resident artist with Pacific Opera Victoria’s Civic Engagement Artist Residency and alumna of the Rebanks Family Fellowship with Toronto’s Royal Conservatory. Next season, Jaclyn will make her debut as Freia in Das Rheingold with Edmonton Opera and she joins the Buffalo Philharmonic as the soprano soloist in Beethoven’s 9th Symphony under JoAnn Falletta.

During the 2021-2022 season, Jaclyn was a young artist with the Britten Pears Young Artist Programme, Banff Opera in the 21st Century, and Sewanee Summer Music Festival; during which she performed excerpts of the roles Krystyna in Two Remain, Helmwige in Die Walküre, Female Chorus in Rape of Lucretia, the Marschallin in Der Rosenkavalier, Anne in Singing Only Softly, Littler Daughter in Proving Up, and Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni. Jaclyn recently performed the title role in Bas Sheve (Henech Kon), a Yiddish opera in its North American premiere with the Ashkenaz Festival, the Milken Center, UCLA, and Yiddish Summer Weimar, and covered Judith with Against the Grain Theatre’s Bluebeard’s Castle.

A proud co-founder of Likht Ensemble, Jaclyn is passionate about sharing music by Jewish composers from the Holocaust. As a Jewish dramatic soprano, she is eager to explore the intersection of the Germanic repertoire and voices silenced during the Holocaust. Likht’s ongoing recital series, the Shoah Songbook, recently saw performances with the Chattanooga Symphony and Public Libraries, the Canadian Opera Company, the Schulich School of Music, and the Harold Green Jewish Theatre. This season, iterations of the Songbook series will see performances with Pacific Opera Victoria and the Harold Green Jewish Theatre Company, and Likht will begin educating about antisemitism in opera with various Canadian companies (more information TBA).

Likht is also developing a new work called “Jewish Space Lasers”. This cabaret-style theatre piece explores music and stories from the Holocaust, Wagner, and borscht-belt style stand-up comedy ranging from Jew-face to contemporary antisemitism to the experience of being a Jewish dramatic soprano. Space Lasers will be workshopped in January 2024 with support from Amplified Opera, and in spring 2024 with Opera McGill.

Committed to her work with nonprofits, Jaclyn created and facilitated the Association for Opera in Canada’s LINK Artist Workshop Series and RBC Fellowship/Mentorship Program. Jaclyn believes in fostering community and empowering artists to take control of their careers. These programs seek to empower artists across Canada through professional skills development. Jaclyn is also the Founder of The Phoenix Leadership Project, a Canadian charity that promotes youth leadership education, and a mentor/facilitator with Opera InReach and the Marigold Music Programs.

Jaclyn is the 2022 winner of the Career Blueprint Award from the International Resource Centre for Performing Artists, and the 2020 winner of the Ben Steinberg Musical Legacy Award with Temple Sinai. She is a graduate of McGill University’s Diploma in Opera and Voice program. Recent performances include Vitellia (La clemenza di Tito), Lady Billows (Albert Herring), and Madame Lidoine (Dialogues des Carmélites) with Opera McGill and excerpts of Lady Macbeth (Macbeth) and the Four Last Songs (Strauss) with the OperaFest at the Sewanee Summer Music Festival.

Jaclyn gratefully acknowledges her privilege to work and reside on the traditional territories of the Wendat, Haudenosaunee, and Anishinaabe Peoples, and the Treaty lands of the Mississaugas of the Credit.