Joslin Romphf Dennis

The Life Part:
Joslin is lucky enough to be married to the love of her life, and she and her husband live
in the bucolic (and sometimes fragrant!) farmland of Delta, BC. They are owned by an
incredibly spoiled chihuahua named Fred, and they like it that way. She’s the oldest of
4 kids, and her parents have been die hard supporters of her vocal dreams since she
danced down the aisle singing along to the hymns at the age of 3.
Oh, you want career deets? Here you go!

The Singing Part:
Soprano, Joslin Romphf Dennis, holds a Bachelor of Music in Voice and a Master of
Music in Opera from the prestigious Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, PA, USA.
She is also a graduate of the renowned Lindeman Young Artist Development Program
under the direction of Maestro James Levine at the Metropolitan Opera in New York
City. A native of Victoria, British Columbia, she made her début with the Metropolitan
Opera covering Praskovya Osipovna and The Pretzel Vendor in Shostakovich’s The
Nose. Joslin made her Carnegie Hall debut under the auspices of the Marilyn Horne
Foundation in their annual song festival, On Wings of Song, and made her Canadian
opera debut as Elettra in Mozart’s Idomeneo for Pacific Opera Victoria in Victoria, BC,
where Paula Citron wrote “POV lived up to its reputation…the find for me was
charismatic soprano Joslin Romphf Dennis as Elettra who is a spinto in the making.”
Her Canadian orchestral debut came as soprano soloist in Mahler’s 4th Symphony with
the Victoria Symphony in Victoria, BC, with whom she has also performed Beethoven’s
9th Symphony. Joslin made her American professional debut with the Opera Company
of Philadelphia as Giannetta in Donizetti’s L’Elisir d’Amore where she also performed in
a critically-acclaimed Savonlinna Festival production of Verdi’s MacBeth.
Joslin has performed numerous other operatic roles including Female Chorus in
Britten’s The Rape of Lucretia, where David Shengold wrote: “With crisp diction and a
rich, penetrating soprano, Joslin Romphf Dennis’ Female Chorus furnished the most
attractive and individual vocalism of the evening.”, Isabella in Wagner’s Das
Liebesverbot, Elle in Poulenc’s La Voix Humaine, Fiordiligi and Donna Anna in Mozart’s
Così Fan Tutte and Don Giovanni, the title role in Samuel Barber’s Vanessa, Magda
Sorel in Menotti’s The Consul, and the title role in Ned Rorem’s Miss Julie, where Sarah
Feidt said: “the voice of Miss Julie (played by Joslin Romphf Dennis ) was a shining high
point of the opera. Crisp, clean, full, resonant, she navigated some startling vocal
jumps and dives perfectly.” Under the direction of Marilyn Horne, Joslin performed the
role of Madame Cortese in Rossini’s Il Viaggio a Rheims for the Music Academy of the
West’s 50th anniversary season. She has performed under the baton of James Levine,
Mario Bernardi, Maurizio Barbacini, Jacques Lacombe, Ian Robertson and Valery
Ghergiev.

Joslin was presented in her New York City solo recital debut with the Marilyn Horne
Foundation. She has performed at the Marlboro Festival in Marlboro, VT, USA and was
a member of the Young Artists Program at Glimmerglass Opera in Cooperstown, NY,
USA. She has also been presented with Richard Epp at the International Voice
Teacher’s Conference in Vancouver, B.C., with Mikael Eliasen for the Women’s Musical
Club of Winnipeg, MB and with Andrew West at the Ravinia Festival in Chicago, IL,
USA as a member of the distinguished Steans Institute.
Joslin has received a Vancouver Opera Guild Career Development Grant, was the
winner of the Young Canadian Mozart Singers competition at the Canadian Opera
Company in Toronto, ON, and a finalist in the CBC/Radio Canada Young Canadian
Performers Competition. She was selected as a semi-finalist in the Loren L. Zachary
vocal competition and received grants from the Gerda Lissner Foundation, the Sosenko
Foundation and the Rader Foundation, as well as awards and honors from the
Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions and the Edmonton Symphony
Orchestra Canadian Concerto Competition.

The Teaching Part:
Joslin has been on faculty with VAM since 2015. She is a member in good standing of
the BC Registered Music Teachers Association, Richmond Branch (BCRMTA). In
addition to her experience in classical music and opera, Joslin is certified in the
Neuro-Vocal Method and Vocal Function 101/Mechanics of Mix and Belt for popular
and microphone styles. She reprised the soprano solo part in Beethoven’s 9th
Symphony in March of 2020 with the VAM Symphony Orchestra and the Vancouver
Bach Choir under the baton of Leslie Dala for VAM’s 50th Anniversary concert at the
Orpheum. Other performances in Vancouver and on Vancouver Island include soprano
soloist in Verdi’s Requiem with Leslie Dala and the VAM Symphony Orchestra and
soprano soloist in Beethoven’s 9th Symphony with Pierre Simard and the Vancouver
Island Symphony in Nanaimo B.C..
Joslin is sought after as an adjudicator and judge, adjudicating at various Canadian
music festivals (often being invited back), including the Pacific Northwest Music
Festival in Terrace, BC, the Lethbridge and District Music and Speech Arts Festival in
Lethbridge, Alberta, the Richmond Music Festival, the Port Coquitlam Music Festival,
and the Greater Victoria Performing Arts Festival, where she was also on the panel of
the Roberto and Mary Wood Scholarship concert. She was a member of the panel to
adjudicate the McLellan Competition for the Winnipeg Women’s Musical Club in 2018
and 2020. In January of 2018, Joslin served as a judge for the Juno Awards.
Joslin’s primary role at VAM is as a member of the S.K. Lee College
Voice Department, where she teaches Diction 171/2 and 271/2. She is a passionate
advocate of the broad spectrum of vocal music, which encompasses the areas of opera,
classical, chamber, musical theatre and contemporary/popular styles. She is, as always,
thrilled to be a part of the voice faculty and looks forward to bringing her experience
and training to her classes with the college students of the Vancouver Academy of
Music.