Artistic Director/Conductor
As a performer, Ms. Kelly made her professional operatic debut with the Washington Opera at the Kennedy Center. She has also performed major roles with the Baltimore Opera, Opera Delaware, Central City Opera, Tulsa Opera, Annapolis Opera and the New York City Opera Education Department. She appeared in the world premiere of Rappaccini’s Daughter with the Pennsylvania Opera Theater. Ms. Kelly has sung on the concert stage with the National Symphony, Baltimore Symphony, Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, Delaware Symphony, Allentown Symphony and Annapolis Symphony. Additionally, she has sung with the Berlin Brass Quintet, Bach Aria Group, St. Louis Bach Society, Bethlehem Bach Festival, Richmond Choral Arts Society, Annapolis Brass Quintet, Washington Bach Consort and the Monumental Brass Quintet.
While maintaining an active performance schedule, Ms. Kelly has placed special emphasis on developing aspiring singers. Her expertise in vocal technique has been of benefit to students ranging from those preparing for professional vocal careers to those who simply enjoy music as a hobby. Ms. Kelly has served on the faculties of the Baltimore School for the Arts; Hood College in Frederick, MD; the United States Naval Academy and the Levine School of Music in Washington, DC where she was chair of the Voice Department. Ms. Kelly has also conducted workshops for the Smithsonian Institution in Washington. Her knowledge of vocal repertoire, combined with excellent piano skills, has placed her in great demand as a teacher. Her students have been recipients of scholarships at major universities and conservatories across the country and have received many awards including a national winner of the Metropolitan Opera competition.
Jeanne Kelly served as Director of the Women’s Glee Club at the United States Naval Academy, Annapolis, MD from 1987 to 1995. She built this organization from a group of fifteen women functioning as a small auxiliary branch of the Men’s Glee Club to a sixty-voice ensemble that regularly appears in some of this country’s most prominent performing venues including singing for the President of the United States in NBC’s Annual Christmas in Washington programs, Good Morning America and NBC’s Salute the Troops TV Special. In 1994, the Women’s Glee Club toured England, performing a concert in St. Paul’s Cathedral, London and performed with the Royal Marine Band in Portsmouth.
Jeanne Kelly was the first director of Levine School of Music, Arlington Campus, where she had more than 700 students from eighteen months to 97 years of age. She also created the Big Band, Metropolitan Wind Symphony and the New Horizons Band for older adults. These three ensembles regularly perform at venues such as the Kennedy Center and National Building Museum. While at Levine she was asked by Dr. Gene Cohen, director of the George Washington University Center of Aging, Health and Humanities, to create three Senior Singers’ Chorales to be involved in a three year study “Creative and Aging: the Impact of Professionally Conducted Cultural Programs on Older Adults.” National Endowment For the Arts was the lead sponsor of this study which showed a positive impact of participatory art programs for older adults. The singers showed overall improved health, fewer doctor visits, less medications, fewer falls, less loneliness and higher morale. They also showed a reduction of risk factors driving the need for long-term care. With an average age of 80 years old, these 120 singers were featured in an Associated Press article in four hundred newspapers nationally and internationally and were featured on CBS Evening News with Dan Rather. They were invited to perform on the Millennium and Terrace Theater stages of the Kennedy Center, National Building Museum, White House Conference on Aging, Society for Arts in Healthcare, the Gerontological Society of America Conference and Grant Makers in Aging Conference to name a few.
Currently, Ms. Kelly is the founder and executive director of the nonprofit “Encore Creativity for Older Adults” which is dedicated to providing an excellent and accessible artistic environment for older adults over 55 years of age, either beginning, intermediate or advanced levels, who seek arts education and performance opportunities under a professional artist. Encore Chorales are now located at Langston- Brown Senior Center in Arlington, VA., Goodwin House Alexandria, Goodwin House Baileys Crossroads, Myerberg Senior Center in Baltimore, Smithsonian Institution in D.C. and Convergence in Alexandria, VA.
