Jill Feldman earned a degree in music from the University of California. Parallel studies in European literature kindled an intense love for the works of Shakespeare and his contemporaries, and led naturally to her immersion in the vocal styles of the period. She trained with Lillian Loran in San Francisco, and, in 1980, was awarded an Alfred Hertz Scholarship to perfect her interpretation of early vocal music under the guidance of Andrea von Ramm in Basel. Shortly thereafter she made her dramatic debut in three productions: in the role of La musica in Monterverdi's Orfeo staged in Berkeley, California; as Clerio in Cavalli's Erismena at the Festival dei Due Mondi in Sploeto, Italy; and on tour with the medieval ensemble, Sequentia, in their much lauded performance of Ordo Virtutum by Hildegard von Bingen.

It was in 1981, at the request of William Christie, that Jill Feldman joined Les Arts Florissants in Paris. With this renowned ensemble she created the title-role of Charpentier's Médée; their recording (Harmonia Mundi) won the Gramophone Record Award in 1985, the Grand Prix Charles Cros and the Grand Prix du Disque de Montreux.

Following her success in Médée, Jill Feldman was invited by Nicholas McGegan to tour in the USA with his Philharmonia Baroque orchestra in a solo recital of French baroque music for soprano and orchestra. She continued to perform and record with Philharmonia in their award winning performances of Handel's oratorio Susanna and the cantata Clori, Tirsi, and Fileno (Harmonia Mundi USA).

Since then, over 40 recordings have followed including three solo recitals of English and Italian 17th century music: Udite amanti (Linn Records), Henry Purcell: Ayres from Orpheus Britannicus with lutenist Nigel North, and Henry Purcell: Harmonia Sacra with organist Davitt Moroney (Arcana).

Jill Feldman has appeared under the direction of such distinguished musicians as Frans Brüggen (Haydn's Creation), Andrew Parrot (Handel's Carmelite Vespers EMI), Jordi Savall (Delalande Motets), and René Jacobs (Cesti Orontea, Cavalli Xerses, Harmonia Mundi).

Recently, she incarnated the role of Armida in Stradella's Lo schiavo liberato at the Teatro di Modena directed by Enrico Gatti. She works regularly with harpsichordist Kenneth Weiss, viola da gambist Paolo Pandolfo (Labyrinto), and with Pedro Memelsdorff (Mala Punica) with whom she has made 5 CD's for Arcana and Erato. In the realm of contemporary music, Jill Feldman performs often with Duix, and has had several compositions written for her and the ensemble.