Debut Recital Offers Women’s Perspectives Through
20th-Century Song
by MORGAN GRUNERUD

After a long day of dress shopping, Jen Aylmer hopelessly exclaimed, “I couldn’t find anything! You watch, I’ll end up wearing red…” Thus began my encounter with Ms. Aylmer, the vivacious soprano who is in the spotlight this month as the winner of the Alice Tully Vocal Arts Debut Recital. And red would be fitting for a fresh concert comprised of all 20th-century music, and for this young singer so full of life. The recital, awarded in a prestigious voice competition for recent Juilliard voice alumni, is now in its fifth year. Aylmer is joined by the Vocal Arts Department’s own Kenneth Merrill on the piano.

Jennifer Aylmer (Photo by Lisa Kohler)

Established here at Juilliard in 1997, the Alice Tully Vocal Arts Debut Recital is a unique opportunity for young singers of great promise: a New York debut in Alice Tully Hall. The recital is fully sponsored and promoted by Juilliard and the Alice Tully Foundation, and has proven to be a very successful showcase for young singers, allowing them to explore the world of song and concert singing even amidst their growing careers.

Jennifer Aylmer (known to her friends as Jen) grew up on Long Island and attended the Eastman School of Music for her Bachelor of Music degree. She then came to Juilliard for three years, including a stint in the Juilliard Opera Center, studying under the late Beverley Peck Johnson. Aylmer credits vocal coach Kenneth Merrill for inspiring her to come to Juilliard, and sees this concert as a wonderful opportunity to collaborate with him again. “I took Ken’s song repertoire class at Eastman—and he just fed my passion for song. He was the main reason I came to Juilliard, and this concert is a thank-you for that.” After she left Juilliard, she was part of the Houston Grand Opera Studio, and then began singing professionally.

Jen has worked extensively with the Marilyn Horne Foundation, which provides unique performing opportunities for young singers all across the country. She has also sung in the New York Festival of Song, co-directed by Juilliard’s Steven Blier, pursuing her love and talent for art songs. Working in such a professional environment helped to shape her career and develop her voice and work ethic. Later this season Jen heads to Austin, Tex. to sing in A Streetcar Named Desire and Rigoletto and returns to Eastman to sing a concert with the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, among other engagements. Jen also teaches voice to several high school students on Long Island, a job that she finds incredibly rewarding.

But finding the perfect dress is only a small part of what’s on Aylmer’s mind—she has quite an ambitious recital to prepare. Including work that is fairly new to her, along with exploring many seldom heard songs, Jen’s recital should prove to be fresh aýd innovative. “This is a concert where I love every song I am singing—I believe in them absolutely.” Her program is presented in traditional chronological order, but is unique in its choices and themes. Aylmer covers almost every decade of the 20th century, and all the selections are from a woman’s point of view. She is singing works by Poulenc, a romantic set of Weill, a set of obscure Brazilian songs, some Shostakovich, a little Bolcom—a boisterous, energized look at song singing and at our recent history of music. “The first half is more intellectual, tamer; the second half has texts that are more satirical and the sound is more bombastic.” In keeping with her individual approach, Jen told me that she plans on speaking at the recital. “I love talking to my audience—it is relaxing for me and for them, and creates a dialogue between us.”

She talked about her love for song, and the danger in choosing repertoire that is too traditional or overdone. “It is our responsibility as artists to explore new or unknown music,” she stressed. Coming back to Juilliard to prepare for the recital has been a wonderful experience for Aylmer. The rigorous coachings and rehearsals with the faculty, along with making a return to art song repertoire, is “liberating,” she said.

The late singer Seth McCoy once told Aylmer at a competition, “One must strive to express, not to impress,” and those words have stuck with her. This is a singer who is growing as an artist on her own time, exploring repertoire and choices sensitively, and striving to reach a higher level of communication and expression every day. “I pick music for its text, for something I can sink my teeth into. This concert suits my temperament. You have to pick repertoire that complements your style and that you are committed to, and you can’t listen to what people want or expect.”

It’s no wonder that Jen Aylmer is making her Alice Tully Debut—she is a young singer in the prime of her career, just waiting to explode, to express and to discover. A combination of beautiful vocal talent, individualism, and keen artistic maturity have brought Aylmer this far, and her ambitious, energized concert is not to be missed.

The Alice Tully Debut Recital is on November 28 at 8 p.m., tickets at $15 and $20 are on sale at the Alice Tully Hall box office, or call CenterCharge at (212) 721-6500.

Morgan Grunerud is an undergraduate voice student of Cynthia Hoffmann.