Emily Michiko Jensen - Soprano

Emily Michiko Jensen (she/her) is a Japanese American soprano praised for her “theatrical instincts and intriguingly versatile instrument.” In the 2025-2026 season, she joined Opera San José as an Artist in Residence making two dream role debuts as Fiordiligi in Cosi fan tutte and Cio-Cio San in Madama Butterfly. During her Residency, she also performed as a Guest Artist singing the role of Tosca for Opera San Jose's Poolside Puccini series and participated in both workshops of the newly commissioned opera Solaris - singing the role of Rheya.

Recent performance highlights include her debut as Musetta in La bohème with the Borderland Arts Foundation, a return to the role of Mimì in La bohème at Opera Company of Middlebury - a role she debuted with Hawai’i Opera Theatre.

NEW WORKS

At home with both traditional and new works, Ms. Jensen has been a part of the workshops of Solaris as Rheya with Opera San José, and The House on Mango Street as Cathy, Queen of Cats at Chautauqua Opera. 2027 brings a world premiere of TEA as Teruko Mackenzie at Hawai’i Opera Theatre.

CONCERT/RECITAL

Ms. Jensen has performed in recital with Pensacola Opera during her residency, where she performed Die Wesendonck Lieder at the Opera Center. She has returned as a Guest Artist at Florentine Opera to sing in their summer fundraising events.

COMPETITIONS & AWARDS

Ms. Jensen was most recently a 2026 finalist in the Wagner Society of New York Vocal Competition. She is a 2023 Career Grant recipient from The Olga Forrai Foundation. In the spring of 2022, she was a semi-finalist for the Annapolis Vocal Competition, Gerda Lissner International Vocal Competition, and Irene Dalís Vocal Competition at Opera San José. During her time at Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, she received The Georgina Joshi International Fellowship to support her attendance to the 2020 Summer Opera Tel Aviv program where she was to sing Alice Ford in Falstaff; this was cancelled due to COVID. She was a 2018 finalist for the McCammon Vocal Competition.

RESIDENT/STUDIO ARTIST PROGRAMS

Ms. Jensen has participated in the resident artist programs of Opera San José, Pensacola Opera, Florentine Opera, and Boston Lyric Opera, and the young artist programs of Chautauqua Opera, Sarasota Opera, Opera Company of Middlebury.

EDUCATION

She received a Graduate Diploma and Master of Music in Vocal Performance from New England Conservatory. She holds a Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance from Eastman School of Music, University of Rochester. She attended Indiana University Jacobs School of Music as a Performance Diploma candidate with an Associate Instructor Scholarship before beginning her work as a professional artist.