Jared Ice, founder of International English Choirs, was born in Seattle, Washington, USA. His passion for music was nurtured early through supportive music communities. As a teenager, he toured nationally with musical ensembles and performed in rock bands and jazz groups in Seattle. After earning a Master of Music degree from the University of Washington, Jared began his professional career as a young artist with Tacoma Opera, training under the guidance of dramatic soprano Jane Eaglen.

He went on to perform leading roles with several opera companies on the West Coast before moving to the East Coast to join Opera Theater of Pittsburgh as a resident artist under Jonathan Eaton. Jared spent summers at the Institute for Young Dramatic Voices, where he trained directly with renowned mezzo-soprano Dolora Zajick. After winning the prestigious Anna Sosenko Trust Award in New York City, he relocated to Europe, where he won the Kammeroper Schloss Rheinsberg International Singing Competition and made his European debut at Staatstheater Braunschweig as Holofernes in Siegfried Matthus’ opera Judith.

Over the next 15 years, Jared performed with many of Germany’s premier opera houses and toured extensively across Europe, including performances in Latvia, Estonia, England, Spain, France, the Netherlands, and Switzerland. Now based in the Frankfurt area, he has recently performed with Stadttheater Giessen, Staatstheater Darmstadt, and Pfalztheater Kaiserslautern. In 2020, Jared was commissioned by Staatstheater Darmstadt to create Words of Reason, a song cycle setting physicists’ words to music, which premiered to a sold-out audience.

In 2021, Jared founded the Darmstadt Men’s Choir to promote his vision of inclusive music, believing that communities should actively participate in music without barriers between musicians and non-musicians. He arranged a collection of sea shanties, which premiered at a “Sing for Peace” concert in Darmstadt. The following year, he established the Darmstadt English Choir to further expand his musical community. In 2024, he founded International English Choirs to build community-based, English-speaking music groups across Germany. Each choir consists of about 50 members and performs locally, with all groups coming together annually for a regional concert. Each year, the choirs premiere at least one new composition by Jared, giving members the unique experience of interpreting a new work as a community.

To learn more about Jared, visit his website.