American dramatic soprano Jillian Finnamore is based in Berlin and is building a reputation for her powerful voice and commanding stage presence. Her repertoire now centers on the major dramatic roles of Wagner, including Isolde, Brünnhilde, and Kundry, alongside core Italian roles. In 2026, Jillian will perform Isolde in Tristan und Isolde in Berlin.

Her recent engagements include Marietta/Marie in English National Opera’s 2023 The Dead City/Die tote Stadt, Turandot for Instant Opera’s 2025 production of Turandot, and soprano soloist in Verdi’s Requiem with Abingdon Musical & District Society. Ms Finnamore also performed Dritte Norn and both Woglinden in Regents Opera’s 2025 award-winning Der Ring des Nibelungen in London.

Opera Now remarked that she “commanded the stage” at English National Opera and noted her “particularly voluptuous middle register.”

After winning the Robert Presley Memorial Verdi Prize in 2021, Ms Finnamore made her debut singing Abigaille from Verdi’s Nabucco. In 2022, she made further debuts as Micaëla in Carmen and Marietta/Marie in Korngold’s Die tote Stadt, both with Regents Opera.

Before moving to Berlin in October 2019, she sang extensively throughout the United States and Italy. Roles included Tosca with the Mediterranean Opera Festival, Aida with Opus Concert Productions, Mimì with Arbor Opera Theatre, and Desdemona in Otello and Violetta in La Traviata, both with Center Stage Opera. Ms Finnamore has also performed Lucia in Lucia di Lammermoor, Donna Anna in Don Giovanni and Musetta in La Bohème.

She also performs on the concert stage as soprano soloist. Past oratorios include Mozart’s Exsultate, jubilate and Coronation Mass, Brahms’ Requiem, Saint-Saëns’ Christmas Oratorio, Haydn’s Little Organ Mass and Lord Nelson Mass, Fauré’s Requiem, Schubert’s Mass in G, and Handel’s Messiah.

During the German lockdown, Ms Finnamore worked at the Berlin Staatsoper with director Caroline Staunton and conductor Ben Woodward on Tosca, Amelia in Un ballo in maschera, Butterfly in Madama Butterfly, and Mimì in La Bohème.

She has performed 1920s and 1930s German Lieder and opera in Germany and New York City, and created the role of Tourist A in the world premiere of Bruce Trinkley and Jason Charnesky’s Lost in Translation. She covered Zemphira in Rachmaninoff’s Aleko, sung in Russian, and has performed excerpts from Manon, La Juive, Die Entführung aus dem Serail, Cendrillon, Die Zauberflöte and Don Pasquale.

Elizabeth Vrenios, past president of the National Opera Association, described Jillian Finnamore as “an extremely talented and energetic beauty who has drama, musicianship, flair, and a gorgeous instrument.” She was a finalist in both The Rising Star Emerging Artist Award and the Harold Haugh Competition, and sang Mabel in Southern Great Lakes Symphony’s concert performance of The Pirates of Penzance.

As part of her concert repertoire, she performs themed recitals for social justice causes, archetypal and mythological themes. She has curated classical recitals around Joseph Campbell’s Hero’s Journey, the story template on which the Star Wars franchise is based.

Ms Finnamore has participated in numerous opera courses, including the Harrower and Crittenden Opera Workshops, Lotte Lehmann Akademie, Bel Canto in Tuscany, Elysium International Festival and the Mediterranean Opera Festival. She has also studied Alexander Technique intensively, participating in Total Vocal Freedom for 1½ years, the inaugural training course led by Peter Jacobson.

Jillian graduated from the University of South Carolina with a Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance. Born in Papua New Guinea and raised in West Africa, she brings an international perspective to her work.