Described as possessing a "characterful and beautifully knit mezzo” (Opera News) and "winning" stage presence (The New York Times), Jennifer Panara, mezzo-soprano returns to Theater St. Gallen for her seventh season as a soloist in the Musiktheater-Ensemble, opening the 2025/2026 season with a role debut as Romeo in Vincenzo Bellini's I Capuleti e i Montecchi. Further roles this season will include Dorabella (Così fan tutte) and Pari/Blutrote in the world premiere of Pamela Dürr & Leonard Evers's Das Mondmädchen. 

Notable roles performed in recent seasons in St. Gallen include Hélène Allatini in the world premiere of Tobias Picker & Aryeh Stollman's Lili Elbe (winner of Best World Premiere at the 2024 Oper! Awards), Prince Orlofsky (Die Fledermaus), Hänsel (Hänsel und Gretel), Princess Clarice (The Love for Three Oranges), Hedwige (Guillaume Tell), Paula (Florencia en el Amazonas),  Oreste (La belle Hélène), Dodo McNeill (Missy Mazzoli & Royce Vavrek's Breaking the Waves), Lisette Soer (Kris Defoort & Peter van Kraaij's The Time of Our Singing), Siébel (Faust), and Sesto Pompeo (Giulio Cesare in Egitto). Additionally, Jennifer was scheduled to make her role debut as Maria Rainer in the Swiss premiere of The Sound of Music in the 2020/2021 Season, which was cancelled due to COVID-19.

 

In recent seasons, Jennifer has performed extensively throughout the United States and Europe, performing notable roles including the leading role of Infantin Isabella in the staged German premiere of Paul Abraham’s Märchen im Grand-Hotel with Staatstheater Mainz, the Fox in Janáček’s The Cunning Little Vixen with Theater Hagen, which received critical acclaim for her “naturally and authentically produced” and “beautifully colored mezzo voice [that] made the love duet with the Vixen a highlight” (Online Musik Mazazin), and the Secretary in Menotti’s The Consul with Opera Saratoga, garnering praise for her performance's “exquisite shading and subtlety” (La Scena Musicale). ​Other company and role debuts of note have included Cherubino (Le nozze di Figaro) with North Carolina Opera, Mae (Ricky Ian Gordon’s The Grapes of Wrath) with Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, Flora Bervoix (La traviata) with The Santa Fe Opera, Third Dryad (Rusalka) with Minnesota Opera, and Handel’s Messiah with the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra.

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Jennifer’s awards include the Donald & Luke Graham Memorial Award from The Santa Fe Opera, Second Prize at Brava! Opera Theater’s National Vocal Competition, and Second Prize at Opera at Florham’s Vocal Competition. Additionally, she is a former Quarterfinalist in Plácido Domingo’s Operalia: The World Opera Competition.​ Jennifer has participated in young artist programs with Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, The Santa Fe Opera, and Opera Saratoga. A native of Medford, New Jersey, Jennifer holds an Artist Diploma in Opera from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, as well as degrees in vocal performance from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and the Eastman School of Music.