Jennifer Aylmer

“My mother tells me I was singing in the crib,” says soprano Jennifer Aylmer, who will make her Metropolitan Opera debut in the world premiere of American Tragedy next season. “But she’s tone deaf.” That may be, but the achievements of this Long Island native, who grew up wanting to sing on Broadway only to “discover more music than [she] ever imagined” at the Eastman School of Music, tell a different story. In addition to her innate talent, Aylmer says she has relied most on her resilience to get where she is. “Singing is a very subjective art,” she explains. “When you’re working with a conductor, he’s going to give you notes. Let the person who knows more than you enlighten you. You can’t take it personally.”