Two-time Grammy Award winning® mezzo soprano J’Nai Bridges has earned and enjoyed successes at The Metropolitan Opera as Mary in John Adams’ El Niño and in her company debut as Queen Nefertiti in Philip Glass’s Akhnaten. This winter finds Bridges busily preparing to debut yet another queen of antiquity—Didon, Queen of Carthage, in Berlioz’s massive opera, Les Troyens. But that’s not all.
“I’m preparing for two amazing role debuts: Didon in Les Troyens with Seattle Opera, and then Erika from Barber’s Vanessa with the National Symphony Orchestra in Washington, DC. Both are operas that are rarely done, so I’m very fortunate to tap into these roles and the musical landscape of these operas. Of course, when I was auditioning as a young singer, ‘Must the winter come so soon?’ [Vanessa] was like the mezzo national anthem,” Bridges laughs as we begin our interview in the early days of 2025.
I ask Bridges if she’s performed Berlioz’s Les Nuits d’été, and she responds enthusiastically about his vocal writing, “I haven’t, and it’s so wild because it fits my voice like a glove. I feel like I finally found my thing, you know? It’s funny because my coach Kamal Khan and I have really been coaching vigorously on this. He’s coached this role [Didon] with so many, and he’s said, ‘You know, people have done the role well, but your voice—the range of it just fits so well. And I think also because I’ve sung so much new music, it doesn’t faze me negatively—the way that Berlioz kind of jumps around. But because he has such a beautiful grasp on the voice and how to write for the voice, it’s just so seamless. There’s been a lot of new music that I’ve sung that I feel like hasn’t been the healthiest for my voice, to be honest. But the way that Berlioz sets it—it’s just so healthy and the legato is always there, and it’s almost an Italianate way of writing new music…”
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Bridges continues, “I’m just like, give me all the Berlioz, and dramatically as well. This role, she’s the ultimate queen. She’s such an incredible figure, and you have to have a lot of different dynamics in the voice. It just fits so well. The temperament of the role aligns very much with the writing, you know, the musicality of it. And it all just resonates with me very well.”
Bridges shares her increasing readiness for, and comfort in roles with large orchestral forces, especially after her recent Metropolitan Opera turn as Maddalena in Rigoletto earlier this season. “It’s definitely been a journey, and I feel like you don’t really know what it is until you’re in it. Had I been asked to sing this role prior to now, I would’ve said no. And in fact, I have said no. I’ve said no to Amneris. I’ve said no to Azucena because it’s just too soon. At this point I know my instrument, and I have a team around me that is very supportive. It’s very important to have a team that you trust, because it’s easy to see the money and have these roles that you are dying to sing. And then they’re offered to you, it’s easy to say yes. But for me, I have a team and I know myself—where they say—and we say not yet. There’s a lot in between that comes. And I want a career that lasts a very long time. I’m not this type of singer that’s like, okay, five years, maybe 10, and I’m done. I want to sing for as long as possible.”
We speak at length about Carmen and how Bridges has sung the role repeatedly since grad school, “I will say for me, it has been easy to say yes so to many because I can roll out of the bed singing it.” Bridges laughs and continues, “But I think for any role, you want to keep the voice as limber as possible.” Carmen has clearly remained a healthy signature role for Bridges, who makes her Wiener Staatsoper debut in it this spring. Before then, however, the mezzo will join Maestro Malcom Merriweather and the Dessoff Choirs (highlighted in CS in 2022) at Trinity Church New York in the Verdi Requiem, and will make her role debut as Erika in Barber’s Vanessa in a star-studded concert engagement with the National Symphony Orchestra.
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She lights up talking about Erika and Barber’s vocal writing:
“So I’m super excited about this. First of all, it’s rarely done and it’s glorious music…I just haven’t sung much of his music. And it’s such a beautiful score. I’m really excited to tap into this role because it’s so different than what I have been doing—the Carmens and Dalilas and these kind of femme fatales. She’s such a beautifully demure character, you know? And at the same time, very strong. Just very strong and, again, it fits my voice. I think it’s right in line with where I am vocally in that it’s just pure. I mean, she’s just pure in that she’s honest. And the music and the vocal lines directly reflect that. I really resonate with his character. And vocally, it’s just written so well…it is difficult music. I’m constantly asking myself, okay, why did he write it this way and the sound world is so different than anything else. I’m really just embedding myself as another instrument in this orchestra.”
Our conversation includes discussion of mentorship, future recording, and wellness. It’s an inspiring hour, and I hope to share the details in another article. As our interview ends, I ask Bridges to reflect on the word “queen”—whether it’s Nefertiti or Didon—what does queen mean to you?
“Queen for me means really just walking in your purpose and your fabulousness, your divinity, really. I feel very connected to a higher power and just knowing that I am enough for me, that is like queendom. I can walk in a room unapologetically and know that I’m enough, even when I’m gonna make a mistake. It’s okay, everybody’s gonna survive, including myself. So that’s the main thing—knowing that I’m enough and leading with that and purpose.”
