Ginger Costa-Jackson

Ginger Costa-Jackson (born 10 September 1986, and named Ginger Emilia Jackson) is an Italian-American operatic mezzo-soprano who performs often with the Metropolitan Opera since entering its Lindemann Young Artist Development Program in 2007. The Met: Live in HD global broadcasts feature her frequently, as do other major theaters and concert venues worldwide. Costa-Jackson has performed in her native Italian as well as English, French, and Spanish; she speaks these languages fluently, along with limited German. While her signature role is Carmen, Costa-Jackson also performs comic roles, as in her Marchesa di Poggio (Glimmerglass Festival's 2013 adaptation of Verdi's King for a Day /Un giorno di regno), and also her 2009 Celia in Gilbert and Sullivan's Iolanthe with the San Francisco Symphony.

Early life and education

Ginger Costa-Jackson was born in Palermo, Italy, to an American father, Walt Jackson, and an Italian mother, Emilia Costa. The family then moved to Salt Lake City, Utah.

Music was a consistent part of Costa-Jackson's early family life. Her maternal grandmother, Lucia Frontini Costa, taught the children Italian lullabies and folk tunes. As a youth, Emilia had piano training at the Palermo Conservatory, and some private voice lessons. Walt sang in high school and college groups, including Brigham Young University's barbershop quartet. Each of the children took up orchestral instruments as part of their public school education. Costa-Jackson chose the violin, and eventually became first violinist in her school orchestra. Being a young artist gave her access to the Met's considerable resources, world-class teachers and coaches, and on-stage experiences. Costa-Jackson at a benefit concert appearance in St. George, Utah in 2012 Costa-Jackson made her first appearance with the Metropolitan Opera in its 2008 Opening Night Gala as Rosette in Massenet's Manon. Her singing debut came that same year in a new production of Massenet's Thaïs, which starred Renée Fleming and Thomas Hampson. Costa-Jackson was Myrtale. From 2008 to 2013, Costa-Jackson had 15 contracts with the Metropolitan Opera (see Repertory below). General Manager Peter Gelb explained how the Met's young artists are typically assigned small roles with the company. This pattern is evident in Costa-Jackson's placement in increasingly demanding cover roles since she graduated from the Lindemann Young Artist Development Program in 2010. Her 2012 and 2013 cover roles included Cherubino (Le nozze di Figaro), Meg Page (Falstaff), and Dorabella (Così fan tutte). Her debut in the title role of Carmen came in 2011 with Glimmerglass Opera, when Francesca Zambello cast Costa-Jackson as the gypsy temptress. Scheduling conflicts required Costa-Jackson to turn down offers to sing Carmen with Opera Hong Kong and Opera Hamilton in Canada. The Met released her from a contract to sing Bersi in Andrea Chénier, so that Costa-Jackson could sing Carmen with Virginia Opera in 2014. Carmen became her signature role and she has performed it all over the world. By March 2019 she had performed it thirteen times, in venues ranging from Seattle and San Diego to Mexico City and Tokyo.

2012 saw Costa-Jackson's debut with San Francisco Opera in the role of Nancy T'ang (Nixon in China), a role she had previously sung under the baton of the composer, John Adams, at the Met. Costa-Jackson's first professional role in Europe was Lola (Mascagni's Cavalleria rusticana) with the Gran Teatre del Liceu in 2011. She was "Puss" in the 2010 U.S. premiere of Montsalvage's El gato con botas produced by the Gotham Chamber Opera. Costa-Jackson sang Wowkle in the 2010 Metropolitan Opera centennial production of Puccini's La fanciulla del West.

Personal life

Costa-Jackson married Spencer Burk M.D. on August 31, 2013. The couple live in Sarasota, Florida. Kurt Weill Foundation, New York, 2009, 2013 Loren L. Zachary Society National Vocal Competition for Young Opera Singers, Los Angeles, 2009 Gerda Lissner International Vocal Competition, New York, 2009 Opera Index Vocal Competition, New York, 2008 Licia Albanese-Puccini Foundation International Vocal Competition, New York, 2008 Verbier Festival Academy Scholarship, Switzerland, 2008 Italian Cultural Society of Washington, D.C., Ruggiero Morigi Artist Award, 2004, 2005, 2008 Festival d'Aix-en-Provence Scholarship, Montalto Uffugo, Italy, 2006