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Mary Phillips, mezzo-soprano
Mezzo-Soprano, Mary Phillips recently performed alto solos in Beethoven’s Choral Symphony No. 9 with the Seattle Symphony. She has been on the Metropolitan Opera roster for 16 years, returning this year for Wagner’s Die Fliegende Holländer. In early 2022, she sang “Mama” in the world premiere of The Garden of The Finzi-Continis, with NYC Opera and The National Yiddish Theater. Mary has sung roles in Wagner's Der Ring Des Nibelungen with The Met Opera, Canadian Opera; Scottish Opera, Seattle Opera, Hawaii Opera and Dallas Opera. Mary won a Grammy Award for her solo work in The Met Opera’s 2012 recording of The Ring Cycle. She made an acclaimed role debut as Brangäne in Tristan und Isolde for Dallas. As a Verdi mezzo, Mary has performed Verdi’s Requiem, Eboli in Don Carlos, Amneris in Aida, Azucena in Il Trovatore and Preziosilla in La Forza del Destino (Met Opera debut).
Ms. Phillips is committed to the American music of our time. She has sung Mrs. Alexander in the Met’s production of Philip Glass’s Satyagraha; Sister Helen Prejean in Jake Heggie’s Dead Man Walking at Austin Lyric Opera and his song cycle The Starry Night at Chicago’s Ravinia Festival, at Carnegie’s Zankel Hall and at the Library of Congress. Her facility with contemporary works led to her New York Philharmonic debut in the world premieres of Michael Torke’s Four Seasons and Aaron Jay Kernis’s Garden of Light. She made her Dallas Opera debut as Ceres in Lee Hoiby’s The Tempest.
On the concert stage, she is much in demand for Mahler, having sung Mulier Samaritana in Mahler’s Symphony No. 8 with the New York Philharmonic/Maazel, and Symphony No. 2 with the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the Atlanta Symphony (a performance which was also recorded). She has performed Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 with the Boston Symphony Orchestra/Levine, Philadelphia Orchestra/Dutoit, Utah Symphony and Opera, the National Symphony, the Hong Kong Philharmonic, the Baltimore Symphony, and the Handel & Haydn Society and has recorded it with Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra/McGegan. She has sung Saint-Saens’ Requiem at Carnegie Hall, and Mendelssohn’s Elijah at both Carnegie Hall and with the Nashville Symphony. Ms. Phillips can often be heard in duo recital with soprano Lori Phillips (her twin sister). Mary joined the distinguished voice faculty at Sarah Lawrence College in 2019. Ms. Phillips appears courtesy of the Metropolitan Opera.