J’Nai Bridges | |
|---|---|
 Bridges at theSaint-Georges International Music Festival in 2019 | |
| Born | (1987-02-06)February 6, 1987 (age 39) |
| Education | Charles Wright Academy |
| Alma mater | |
| Occupation | Operaticmezzo-soprano |
| Awards | Marian Anderson Award,Grammy Award |
J’Nai Bridges is a three time Grammy-Award winning Americanmezzo-soprano. She is a winner of theMarian Anderson Award and has performed for theMetropolitan Opera,Washington National Opera, andSan Francisco Opera.BET has described her as "TheBeyoncé of opera".[1]
Bridges was raised inLakewood, Washington. She was the third of four children and grew up listening toMotown music with her parents and singing at church.[2][3] She attended high school at theCharles Wright Academy inTacoma.[3] Her focus was originally on basketball, but she became interested in singing after taking choir as an elective. After deciding to focus on music, she attended theManhattan School of Music and then theCurtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia for graduate school.[4] While participating in a young artists' program at theLyric Opera of Chicago, she was mentored byRenée Fleming.
She names black opera starsDenyce Graves,Shirley Verrett,Kathleen Battle, andJessye Norman, at whose funeral she sang, as inspirations.[5]
Bridges sang at theKennedy Center for the first time after winning a 2012Marian Anderson Award.[5] She competed in theBBC Cardiff Singer of the World competition in 2015.[6] In 2016, she sang the role of Suzuki inMadama Butterfly atSan Diego Opera, where she met and became friends with sopranoLatonia Moore, and she performed at theLos Angeles Opera asNefertiti inAkhnaten byPhilip Glass.[7][8]
In 2017, she performed the role ofJosefa Segovia in the premiere ofJohn Adams'sGirls of the Golden West atSan Francisco Opera.,[9] and in the 2019 European debut of the opera at the Dutch National Opera in Amsterdam.[10] In June 2019, she returned to San Francisco for the title role in Bizet'sCarmen.[11] She made herMetropolitan Opera debut reprising her role inAkhnaten in November 2019, and herWashington National Opera debut as Delilah inSamson and Delilah by Saint-Saëns in March 2020.[12][13]
TheCOVID-19 pandemic put her on-stage career on hold in favor of virtual programming. After themurder of George Floyd, she proposed and led an online panel of Black opera singers with Los Angeles Opera. She returned to the stage in January 2022 forPalm Beach Opera's production ofCarmen.[14]
In March 2022 she performed with the National Philharmonic in composerAdolphus Hailstork and librettist Herbert Martin's new work "A Knee on the Neck," a tribute toGeorge Floyd. Critic Michael Andor Brodeur wrote that Bridges was "especially gripping" in the performance.[15]
In 2023, she was profiled in an episode of the PBS seriesAmerican Masters entitled “In the Making”.[16][2] She also reunited with Latonia Moore at San Diego Opera for a concert. In October, she debuted the role of Lucinda in Jake Heggie's opera,Intelligence. The recording subsequently went on to win her third Grammy.[17]
In October 2025, J'Nai premiered "Everything Hurts" for orchestra and mezzo-soprano with the Nashville Symphony. With music byBrian Field and text by Youth Poet LaureateAmanda Gorman, it was the first time that Gorman allowed her poetry to be set to original music.[18]
| Year | Award | Category | Notes | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | Marian Anderson Award | [5] | ||
| 2021 | Grammy Awards | Best Choral Performance | ForDanielpour: The Passion of Yeshua | [19] |
| 2022 | Grammy Awards | Best Opera Recording | ForGlass: Akhnaten | [20] |
| 2026 | Grammy Awards | Best Opera Recording | ForHeggie:Intelligence | [17] |
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