How Firm a Foundation

Praised as “opera royalty” by OperaWire, three-time Grammy Award-winning mezzo-soprano J’Nai Bridges has enjoyed a soaring international career that has taken her to the major houses of Vienna, Italy, Mexico City, and beyond. Back home in the United States, she has won acclaim for performances at companies such as the Metropolitan Opera, Washington National Opera, and Houston Grand Opera, where she performed in the first Giving Voice concert in 2020. In 2023, she made her HGO mainstage debut as Lucinda in the company’s world-premiere opera Intelligence, winning national praise for her “crystal clarity” and “gleaming intensity.” And she made the entire company proud earlier this month, when the opera’s recording won a 2026 Grammy Award.

Before Bridges became an opera star, she was a student growing up in Tacoma, Washington, where her family attended Allen AME (African Methodist Episcopal) Church. It was there, she says, where her musical life began. Opera Cues asked Bridges about her experience in the church, and the ways it shaped her as a person and an artist.

Tell us about your family church.

The Allen AME Church in Tacoma, Washington was part of the Underground Railroad. I was in the children’s church choir from a very young age, and then I matriculated to the young people’s choir until I went off to college. Church has been, and continues to be, just a very integral part of my life, and my musicianship. It’s really where the music started 12 for me, especially with voice. It’s a foundation that guides all the music I approach.

How did that shape your development?

For me and my family, it was about the community and coming together. I have two brothers and a sister, and we were all in the church choir. As part of a Black family in Washington State, it was very helpful for me because I went to all private schools my whole life. I was usually the only African American girl, so having that sense of community and likeness was healthy for me.

When I found opera and classical music, I was like, oh, this is a fit, it’s not so far away from hymns in church. My background singing in church set me up well to perform, because singing gospel and hymns is all about expression, and opera is all about that, too. There are a lot of parallels. 

Was there a special person who encouraged you?

My dad. He is really the one who motivated me. He’s been in the church choirs for 40 years, specifically an all-male church choir called Sons of Thunder. When I was a little girl, I’d look up and see my dad in the choir, which was cool. The gift of music really comes from my dad.

What did singing in choir teach you?

It taught me to really listen to other performers. My ear was always so keen that I would notice if people might not have been singing the right notes (laughs), and it taught me how to collaborate as well. It has a lot of similarities with opera, because you might not agree with what someone’s doing, but you just come together and make it happen.

What’s your favorite memory from your time performing at church?

Plenty, but I think the fondest memory I have is when I was 11, I sang a duet with my brother. It was Mother’s Day, and we sang Stevie Wonder’s “For Your Love,” dedicated to our mom. I’ll just never forget, because my brother and I were really nervous, but we were up there and we performed. I’m pretty sure my mom has footage of it somewhere. That’s a very, very, very fond memory.

How did your church experience shape the kind of person and artist you are?

I believe the voice I have is sent by God. I remind myself, I don’t do this for me, because it’s my service to people. We are here to serve others. Gratitude is everything, and I know that that comes from being a Christian and raised in the church.

From a performance standpoint, I learned how to receive information, because a lot of being an opera singer is constantly being critiqued, whether it be by the conductor, the director, language coaches, or teachers. You have to have thick skin and not take things personally. I’m not always good at that because I’m human. When I doubt myself, I still have this higher belief that there’s nothing to really doubt, because I feel like God wouldn’t put too much on me to bear. 

You were part of HGO’s first Giving Voice concert back in 2020.

It was such a success. It was so fun, because we sang opera, and most of us in that concert were raised in the church. It was like, this is who we are, which was really cool. So I’m excited to be back for this concert. And also, just to reach the community in a different way. It’s always a good thing.

Have you been back to visit your home church?

Whenever I go back home, the pastor will see me and be like, we have Miss Bridges, opera star in the house. Will you bless us with a song? So, I sing, and it’s just like going home. It’s amazing knowing that I have the support of my church, and that I have many church families now. But at my home church in Tacoma, there’s just nothing like it. I’ve sung in houses all around the world, and whenever I go home, it is by far the best audience, because I don’t have to prove myself. They’re the people that built, supported, encouraged, and armored me. I’m so grateful for my background in church because it’s hard. This career is hard, and I always know that there’s something bigger out there. I’m just grateful for that foundation.