Ermonela Jaho is internationally recognized as one of the greatest operatic artists of our day, as recently titled Artist of the Year at the 2023 International Classical Music Awards: 

“With the unique beauty of her glorious, securely led and magnificently shimmering voice, Ermonela Jaho fascinates with her pure vocal aesthetics. But this is only one side of the singer’s great art, the other being her electrifying theatrical presence. Few singers achieve such a high degree of identification with their roles, such a total veracity and deeply moving emotion. Once on the stage, Ermonela Jaho throws off her own personality like a cloak and fully embodies the character she has to interpret” 

Acclaimed for vocal mastery which allows her to command a wide repertoire from Bel Canto to Verismo, Jaho displays a rare and unique commitment in her portrayals of roles such as Violetta in La traviata, the title roles in Anna Bolena, Madama Butterfly, Suor Angelica, Thaïs, Desdemona in Otello, Blanche in Dialogues des Carmelites, and many others. An international star, Jaho has sung at the world’s leading operatic stages including the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, the Bayerische Staatsoper, Gran Teatre del Liceu, Teatro alla Scala in Milan, Opéra national de Paris, Wiener Staatsoper, Teatro Real in Madrid, Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires, The Deutsche Oper Berlin and at the Arena di Verona.  

In the fall of 2021, Ermonela Jaho debuted the title role in Cilea’s Adriana Lecouvreur at the Wiener Staatsoper. Jaho returned to Teatro Real in Madrid as Mimì in La bohème, and to the Metropolitan Opera as Liù in Turandot. In February of 2022, Jaho reprised the role of Liù in concert for a recording with Sir Antonio Pappano at l’Accademia di Santa Cecilia in Rome. In the Spring, Jaho sang a triumphant concert performance of Thaïs at the Théâtre des Champs Élysées in Paris opposite Ludovic Tézier. Jaho then debuted in Seville in Madama Butterfly, a role she is internationally praised for. 

Season 2022/23, Ermonela Jaho returned to Gran Teatre del Liceu as Suor Angelica in Il trittico and to the Metropolitan Opera as Violetta in La traviata, a role reprised in a spectacular concert tour across Japan in partnership with Teatro Massimo di Palermo. Jaho returned to Royal Opera House as Liù opposite Yonghoon Lee in Turandot, and subsequently to Bayerische Staatsoper to perform the role of Blanche in Dialogues des Carmelites. 

Next season 2023/24 brings a series of exciting engagements for the internationally recognized superstar. Jaho begins the season at Opernhaus Zürich where she returns to reprise the role of Magda in Puccini’s La Rondine. Following her return to Zürich, Jaho then performs the role of Liù in Turandot opposite Brian Jagde at Opéra national de Paris in a co-production with Teatro Real directed by Bob Wilson. Later in the season, Jaho will perform a series of concerts and recitals: first in Oviedo with Philharmonia de Oviedo, followed by a recital in Valencia at Palau de les Arts, a concert in Nice at Opéra de Nice, and a gala performance with Maestro Pappano at Royal Opera House Covent Garden. On the operatic stage, Jaho will debut in La Voix Humaine at Teatro Real Season. Later in the season, Jaho reprises the role of Suor Angelica for which she is internationally acclaimed in the production directed by Lotte de Beer at Bayerische Staatsoper, and more. 

Ermonela Jaho was born in Albania and began her vocal study at the young age of six. By the age of fourteen, she was taken to the Tirana Opera House for the first time to hear La traviata, a performance which inspired her steadfast determination to become an opera singer. She made her operatic debut at 17 in Tirana as Violetta in La Traviata, a role she is now internationally celebrated for. Jaho won singing competitions in Milan, Ancona, and Rovereto. She began her professional career appearing in roles at the Teatro Comunale di Bologna (Mimì, La Bohème), Teatro La Fenice, Venice (Susanna, Le nozze di Figaro), Teatro Verdi Trieste (Micaëla, Carmen), and Wexford Festival Opera (Irène, Sapho). In 2005, she appeared as Violetta at l’Opéra de Marseille which bolstered the development of Jaho’s international career. She made most of her international debuts as Violetta at the world’s top theaters such as the Metropolitan Opera, Wiener Staatsoper, Opéra national de Paris, Royal Opera House, Bayerische Staatsoper, Opera Australia, Opernhaus Zürich, Opéra national de Lyon, Oper Stuttgart, Royal Opera Stockholm, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Verona, Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires, at the Arena di Verona, and at the Choregies d’Orange. Jaho has also been recognized for her unique personification of the title role in Madama Butterfly, a role she has performed at the Metropolitan Opera, Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, Opéra national de Paris, Staatsoper Berlin, Bayerische Staatsoper in Munich and more. Her Puccini repertoire also includes Mimì in La bohème, the title role in Manon Lescaut, Magda in La Rondine, Liù in Turandot, and especially Suor Angelica which she added to her repertoire in a new production at the Royal House, Covent Garden conducted by Sir Antonio Pappano and subsequently in a new production a the Bayerische Staatsoper in Munich under Kirill Petrenko.  

Jaho’s repertoire also includes the title role in Thaïs (Teatro Real, Madrid, 2018), Antonia in Les Contes d’Hoffmann (Paris, Madrid, and Amsterdam) as well as Massenet’s Manon (London, Marseille, and Teatro alla Scala) Marguerite in Faust (Opéra national de Paris), Valentine in Les Huguenots (Opéra national de Paris) Desdemona in Otello (London, Madrid, and Barcelona), Amelia in Simon Boccanegra, the title role in Luisa Miller (Lyon), and Blanche in Dialogues de Carmelites (Toulon, Bari). Jaho’s recording of Leoncavallo’s Zazà (Opera Rara) was nominated for the 2017 International Opera Awards. Jaho has also recorded Puccini’s Le Villi and a highly acclaimed aria album, Anima Rara, an homage to the famed soprano of the past, Rosina Storchio, who was the creator of the role of Madama Butterfly.