J'nai Bridges

Mezzo-soprano J'Nai Bridges' career blossomed after several strong showings at international competitions and after earning major awards in the U.S. Her debut at the Metropolitan Opera in Philip Glass' Akhnaten was recorded and won the Grammy Award in 2022 for Best Opera Recording. This lauded run at the Met, as well as several other major American opera house appearances, boosted Bridges' image beyond the opera sphere as the singer took part in several campaigns and discussions concerning race and inclusion in the classical and operatic worlds. She was even featured in the national ad campaign for the Converse brand All Stars Campaign for Breaking Down Barriers. Bridges grew up in Tacoma, Washington. She sang in church growing up and was a star on her high school's basketball team. Choosing to join the school's choir to fulfill an elective credit requirement during her senior year, Bridges quickly found a home and her teacher recommended she take vocal lessons. Soon after, she made her debut in a local production of Puccini's Tosca, which put her at odds with her basketball coach and ushered in the end of her playing career. However, the future was bright for the singer as she attended the Manhattan School of Music for her bachelor's degree and earned her master's from the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia. Bridges won the 2008 Leontyne Price Foundation Competition and spent three years in the Lyric Opera of Chicago's Ryan Opera Center training program. She was also a member of the Glimmerglass Opera and Opera North during this time. A breakthrough for Bridges came in 2012 when she won the Marian Anderson Award from the Kennedy Center; this win, besides a cash prize, afforded her the opportunity to make her Kennedy Center debut recital. 2015 was another banner year for the up-and-coming Bridges as she represented the U.S. at the BBC Cardiff Singer of the World Competition and debuted the role of Carmen at the Lyric Opera of Chicago in the premiere of Jimmy López's opera Bel Canto. In 2017, Bridges debuted the role of Josefa Segovia in the premiere of John Adams' Girls of the Golden West at the San Francisco Opera. The following year, Bridges was awarded the Medal of Excellence from the Sphinx organization, a nonprofit promoting the growth of Black and Latinx classical musicians. Bridges made a return to the San Francisco Opera as the lead in a production of Bizet's Carmen in 2019 before making her Metropolitan Opera debut as Nefertiti in Philip Glass' Akhnaten, a role she previously staged with the Los Angeles Opera. The Met production was recorded and earned a Grammy Award for Best Opera Recording in 2022. Before the 2020 COVID-19 lockdowns paused her live performances, Bridges made her debut at the Washington National Opera as Delilah in Saint-Saëns' Samson and Delilah. During the summer of 2020, Bridges joined Gustavo Dudamel and members of the Los Angeles Philharmonic in a performance for Global Citizen's Global Goal: Unite for Our Future initiative, which was recorded at an empty Hollywood Bowl and streamed online. In March 2022, Bridges took part in the premiere of Adolphus Hailstork's cantata A Knee on the Neck, written in tribute to George Floyd. That year, Bridges was heard on the Grammy-nominated album Shawn E. Okpebholo: Lord, How Come Me Here? with baritone Will Liverman and pianist Paul Sánchez.
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