About Dr. Cresswell

Jennifer Cresswell is an accomplished teacher, public speaker, and performer.  As visiting faculty at the Interlochen Arts Academy for the 2022-23 academic year, Dr. Cresswell maintained a voice studio of classical, pop, jazz, and musical theatre students, as well as created curriculum on vocal health for the contemporary department and served as conductor for Dido and Aeneas. 2023 also brought her to Detroit as the Keynote Speaker and Master Clinician for the Detroit Women’s Chorus, a residency at the University of Louisiana as a specialist in Kurt Weill, and as a faculty member and guest artist at Spotlight on Opera, where she debuted her latest theatrical recital experience, NOIR: Celebrating the Femme Fatales of Old Hollywood. She holds a Doctor of Musical Arts from the University of Michigan, where she was named a Presidential Fellow by the Rackham Graduate School and a recognized Scholar by the Center for the Education of Women. Her work with INTERSTATE earned the Social Impact Award from the School of Music, Theatre and Dance EXCEL Lab, and her dissertation, Murder, She Sang: A Progression on Sopranos and Death, has been called "groundbreaking" and an "outstanding contribution to the field." An accomplished writer, she has served as librettist for multiple new works, published articles in Classical Singer, Middle Class Artist, and An Injustice! magazines, and had her poetry read as part of the WHY Collective’s performances in Time Square. 

As a performer, she has performed leading operatic roles from the traditional canon, including Santuzza in Cavalleria Rusticana, Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni, and Liù in Turandot. However, her true operatic passion lies in American Opera. The 2021-2022 season saw performances as Olivia in INTERSTATE, with music by Kamala Sankaram, for which Jennifer also served as co-librettist with Kathleen Kelly, the world premiere of Felix Jarrar's Bonfire Opera (composed for Cresswell and Kelly), Cherubino in the 12-hour marathon performance piece BLISS, Mrs. Ford in Frida, and premiering the roles of the Social Worker and News Reporter in Anthony Davis's opera, X: The Life and Times of Malcolm X with Detroit Opera. Other American Opera favorites in her repertoire include Magda Sorel (The Consul), Anna Maurrant (Street Scene), Blanche DuBois (A Streetcar Named Desire), The Mother (Amahl and the Night Visitors), Charlotte (Before Breakfast), and Hannah After (As One). She is also an accomplished recitalist and concert performer, including performances as soloist for Beethoven's Symphony No. 9, Bach's Mass in B Minor, Handel’s Messiah, Mendelssohn’s Elijah, and Poulenc's Gloria.

Dr. Cresswell is available for masterclasses, guest residencies, and recital bookings. You can also find her on TikTok, where she maintains an active presence and a growing following of 20,000.

Connect with Jennifer (Dr. Jenny) via TikTok here.