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Furman Alumna to Sing with the Royal Opera

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Last updated January 23, 2017

By News administrator

This fall, soprano Jacquelyn Stucker ’11 will add her voice to the company at The Royal Opera in London as one of only five Jette Parker Young Artists for 2017. She was selected for the honor from among more than 365 applicants from 61 countries.

“Glowing,” “incandescent,” and “a singing actress to be reckoned with…” The Boston Globe

The Jette Parker Young Artist Program supports the artistic development of talented singers at the beginning of their career. As part of the program, Stucker will move with her husband and their cat to London in September to be a salaried member of the world-renowned Royal Opera in Covent Garden for two years.

“The appointment with The Royal Opera is one of the biggest things that has happened to me professionally,” claims Stucker. “It means I’m leaving the world of young artists and entering the professional music world.”

Her first big break in performing came in the summer of 2015, when she was invited to join the Santa Fe Opera as an Apprentice Artist. “That summer changed my life,” says the soprano who admits to not loving the limelight. “They believed in me when I had nothing on my musical resume.” She was invited back as an apprentice last year, and this summer, she will be making her debut as a principal artist for the opera’s celebrated summer festival.

Stucker, who plans to earn her doctorate in musical arts from the New England Conservatory this May, set out to be an English major, but changed to music performance halfway through her time at Furman. Even in music, it’s the words that draw her. “I was a big reader and wrote poetry as a kid,” she recalls. “Singing connects me to words in a way that I can’t get from just reading. The special thing about the voice is that it gives words a heightened quality and allows for a better level of understanding.”

Learn more about Music at Furman.

 

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