BA, Rhode Island College. MM, Yale University School of Music. Phillips, a mezzo-soprano, has worked in the theatre for more than 30 years. Her Broadway debut was in the first revival of Stephen Sondheim's Sweeney Todd. Her talents led her into opera and oratorio. In the early ’90a, she started performing with the Bronx Opera, Santa Fe Opera, and San Francisco Opera and has never stopped. She is closely associated with the music of Wagner and Verdi. She has sung roles in Wagner's Der Ring Des Nibelungen with The Metropolitan Opera, Canadian Opera, Scottish Opera, Seattle Opera, Hawaii Opera, and Dallas Opera. She won a Grammy Award for her solo work in The Met’s 2012 recording of The Ring Cycle; she made an acclaimed role debut as Brangäne in Tristan und Isolde for Dallas Opera and sang the role with the Winnipeg Symphony. As a Verdi mezzo, Phillips has sung mezzo-soprano solos in Verdi’s Requiem, Eboli in Don Carlos, Amneris in Aida, Azucena in Il Trovatore, and Preziosilla in La Forza del Destino. Concert highlights include numerous performances of Handel’s Messiah with The Dallas Symphony, Teatro Massimo Bellini in Italy, Oratorio Society of New York at Carnegie Hall, The New Jersey Symphony, and Gulbenkian Orchestra in Lisbon; Mahler’s Symphony No. 8 with New York Philharmonic; and Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 with Atlanta Symphony (recorded for Telarc), Los Angeles Philharmonic, and Hong Kong Philharmonic. Upcoming performances of Beethoven‘s Symphony No. 9 with The Seattle Symphony will be December 2021. Philipps is working on a new opera with New York City Opera, with a production scheduled for January 2022. SLC, 2019–
Undergraduate Courses 2024-2025
Music
Studio Class (Voice)
Component
MUSC 5335
This is a beginning course in basic vocal technique. Each student’s vocal needs are met within the structure and content of the class.
Faculty
Previous Courses
Music
Acting and Movement for Singers
Component—Fall
Singers are faced with specific challenges when working on and performing in a musical piece. We have the notes, rhythm, intonation, diction, acting, and physicality to coordinate into one cohesive expression. In this acting and movement for the singer seminar, we will focus on each of these elements separately in order for you to find a way to make the song a truthful and natural extension of yourself. The seminar will provide a practical approach for the singing actor by using the lyrics as a monologue before bringing them to the music. We will explore where those works lead us in the space, and we will incorporate simple acting and movement exercises to get to the core truth of the piece—what it means to you. Some of the work will be based on the teachings of Sanford Meisner (Neighborhood Playhouse, American Musical Theatre Academy), who said: “All my exercises were designed to strengthen the guiding principle that art expresses human experience.”
Faculty
Solo and Ensemble Singing
Component—Spring
This class will be an exploration of small-group choral pieces with featured solo parts mixed in. These choral pieces will focus on contemporary works by composers Eric Whitacre, James Eakin, and Gwyneth Walker, among others, and (depending on time allowances) also include musical masterpieces by Johann Sebastian Bach, George Frideric Handel, John Rutter, and Benjamin Britten. We will vocalize, divide into four part sections (S, A, T, B), work on each part separately, then come together to make music. The ability to read music is a plus but not necessary.
Faculty
Studio Class
Component
The Studio Class is a beginning course in basic vocal technique. Each student’s vocal needs are met within the structure and content of the class.
Faculty
- Thomas Young
- Mary Phillips
- Molly Quinn