Mary Phillips - Miss Jessel

Mezzo-soprano

On the opera stage she has won acclaim at Canadian Opera as Fricka and Waltraute in Die Walküre (directed by Atom Egoyan) and as Waltraute in Götterdämmerung (directed by Tim Albery). Her success in their Ring Cycle led COC to immediately invite her to sing the role of Eboli in Verdi’s Don Carlo. Ms. Phillips joined the Met roster in the 2005-06 season, making her debut as Preziosilla in La Forza del Destino. Her regular appearances with the company have since included Wagner, both in New York and on tour in Japan, singing Waltraute and Rossweise in Die Walküre and covering Fricka. In addition she has sung the role of Mrs. Alexander in their acclaimed new production of Philip Glass’s Satyagraha and covered la Principessa in Suor Angelica, the Mother of Yue-Yang in Tan Dun’s First Emperor, and Elvira Griffiths in Picker’s An American Tragedy. Her San Francisco Opera debut was also in Verdi, as Giovanna/Maddalena in Rigoletto, while in Seattle she has sung Wellgunde and Rossweise in their acclaimed Ring cycles, and looks forward to returning there for Azucena in Il Trovatore in 2009. That year she also sings Miss Jessel in Turn of the Screw for Portland Opera, and Santuzza in Cavelleria for Orlando Opera.

Ms. Phillips has been equally praised in earlier, lighter repertoire, including Eduige in Handel’s Rodelinda for Dallas Opera and performances as Dorabella in Così fan tutte for Virginia Opera (with her twin sister Lori as Fiordiligi). In the bel canto repertoire she has been warmly received as Adalgisa in Norma for Fort Worth and Rosina in Il Barbieri di Siviglia for Opera Birmingham. Ms. Phillips’ international appearances have taken her to the Edinburgh Festival as Erda in the Scottish Opera Ring Cycle and twice to Barcelona’s Teatre de Gran Liceu (Sesto in Giulio Cesare and the Composer in Ariadne auf Naxos).

She is gaining a reputation for her work in contemporary repertoire, as well, notably for her performance as Sister Helen Prejean in Jake Heggie’s Dead Man Walking, which she first undertook at Austin Lyric Opera. She is a favorite colleague of the composer, who has been at the piano for her performances of his song cycle “The Starry Night” at the Ravinia Festival as well as at Carnegie’s Zankel Hall and at the Library of Congress. Her facility with new works led to her New York Philharmonic debut, in the world premieres of Michael Torke’s Four Seasons and Aaron Kernis’s Garden of Light, conducted by Kurt Masur. Other contemporary credits include her Dallas Opera debut as Ceres in Lee Hoiby’s The Tempest, works for mezzo-soprano and viola with Paul Neubauer, and works of Ned Rorem with Brian Zeger. She also appears as a featured soloist on Flesh & Stone, a recording comprised of song cycles by Jake Heggie, the proceeds from which will go to support Classical Action/Equity Fights AIDS. Soon to be released on Naxos is her recording of songs of Charles Ives.

She is much in demand on the concert stage: in particular, Mahler’s Symphony No. 2, Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 and Handel’s Messiah have provided an introduction to many orchestras and conductors, including the Los Angeles Philharmonic (Zubin Mehta, conducting), the Boston Symphony Orchestra (Graf), the Springfield Symphony, the Honolulu Symphony and the Hong Kong Philharmonic (Sam Wong), the North Carolina Symphony and Handel & Haydn (Grant Llewellyn), and the Atlanta Symphony (Levi), with whom she recorded the Mahler 2 for Telarc. She looks forward to more Mahler in 2008-09, most prominently the role of Mulier Samaritana in Mahler’s Symphony No. 8 with Lorin Maazel and the New York Philharmonic, and Symphony No. 2 in Beijing as part of the celebrations surrounding the 2008 Summer Olympics, as well as Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 for Utah Symphony and Opera with Keith Lockhart and Verdi’s Requiem in North Carolina with Grant Llewellyn.

In addition to these foundations of the canon she is re-invited by conductors and orchestras to demonstrate her grasp of a wide range of repertoire. Hans Graf invited her to Houston for Prokovief’s Alexander Nevsky and Bruckner’s Te Deum, Claus Petr Flor invited her to Dallas for Szymanowski’s Stabat Mater and Mozart’s Requiem, Carl St. Clair conducted her Indianapolis Symphony performance of Philip Glass’s Symphony No. 5, Miguel-Harth Bedoya has asked her for de Falla’s El Amor Brujo at both the Baltimore Symphony and the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra; Mark Russell Smith has brought her to Richmond in Berlioz’s Les Nuits d’Ete and Mahler 2; She appeared regularly in Atlanta and with the Orchestra of St. Luke’s at the invitation of Robert Shaw (Mendelssohn’s Elijah); and Nicholas McGegan has brought her to the Hollywood Bowl for Vivaldi’s Gloria and to Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra for performances of Beethoven’s Opferlied and Symphony No 9 which were recorded and are available on iTunes.

As a gifted recitalist and chamber musician, Ms. Phillips has appeared widely under the auspices of the Marilyn Horne Foundation and the New York Festival of Song, at venues including Carnegie Hall (Weill Recital Hall), Marlboro Music Festival, Barge Music and Anchorage Concert Association.

Mary Phillips holds degrees in both music and theater from Rhode Island College, and a Master’s Degree in Music from Yale University. She was an apprentice in the Santa Fe Opera program, and a participant at the Marlboro Festival and the Ravinia Steans Institute for Young Artists.

Mary Phillips currently resides in New York with her young son, Max.

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