Jocelyn Conselva

Soprano, Jocelyn (Zelasko) Conselva has been praised for her “vocal brilliance” (City Pleasures) and “absolutely thrilling” voice (Around the Town Chicago). Renowned for her compelling stage presence and fearless artistry, she has “shaken the halls with sublime ecstatic vocals” (I Care if You Listen) across Europe, the Caribbean, and North America with leading ensembles including New Music Detroit (NMD), Picosa, EcoSono, and Grammy Award–winning Eighth Blackbird.

A leading champion of contemporary music, Jocelyn has commissioned and premiered works by a vast number of visionary composers including Angélica Negrón, Marcus Elliot, Vid Smooke, Michelle McQuade Dewhirst, and Jorge Sosa. With her voice–cello duo, Juxtatonal, she commissioned 14 groundbreaking works exploring vulnerability, identity, and culture, presented on a 17-stop tour throughout Canada and the U.S.

She also created the title role in the mixed-media chamber opera Pat & Emilia, commissioned by Detroit Opera’s Nadine Deleury, which toured widely and was featured in the Canadian Arts Productions documentary Imagining Angels.

Her artistry extends to scholarship and authorship, contributing the afterword to Eleanor Smith’s Hull House Songs: The Music of Protest and Hope in Jane Addams’s Chicago. Formerly an adjunct theory professor at Oakland University, she is currently the vocalist and co-director of NMD while maintaining a private voice studio and serving as Director of Development for ArtOps.

Jocelyn holds bachelor’s degrees in vocal performance and economics from Oakland University and a master’s in music from the University of Iowa. When not creating, she delights in completing New York Times crossword puzzles while squishing her kittens.