Lori Phillips

Lori Phillips, Dramatic Soprano, has performed across the United States and Canada, in Europe, Japan and Australia. She has been hailed for the power of her voice and riveting stage presence with The New York Times calling her, “Impressive with formidable vocal power” and Opera News saying, “Her voice was thrilling.” Ms. Phillips was on the roster at the Metropolitan for over ten years, débuting there in 2010 as Senta in Der Fliegende Holländer. Her performance was LIVE on Sirius Satellite Radio. Opera Today said, “A powerful Senta, Lori Phillips’ bright sound energized the text and made her rendition exciting. It has been many years since a soprano brought as much exhilaration to this role as Phillips”. Further role responsibilities at the MET include Brünnhilde in the Der Ring des Nibelungen, Marie in Wozzeck, Giorgetta in Il Tabarro, the title role in Turandot, Susanna in Khovanschina and Gertrude in Hansel and Gretel. She was honored with a 2015 Solo Grammy nomination for her performance in the Naxos recording of Milhaud’s L’Oresteia of Aeschylus with the University of Michigan Choral Society. Ms. Phillips has sung the roles of Ariane in Ariane et Barbe-Bleue for Opera National du Rhin, New York City Opera; Brünnhilde and Helmwige in Der Ring des Nibelungen for Washington National Opera and Seattle Opera. Opera News wrote, “Soprano Lori Phillips was a terrific Brünnhilde. Her voice started out in excellent form and kept getting better, her clarion upper register sending chills down one’s spine”. She has sung the role of Turandot many times, including at Seattle Opera, Atlanta Opera, Opera Lyra Ottawa, Portland Opera, New York City Opera, Birmingham Opera, Nashville Opera, Opera Tampa and Opera Carolina. She has sung Senta in Der Fliegende Holländer for the MET, Michigan Opera Theatre, Arizona Opera, Washington National Opera, Hawaii Opera Theatre, Sarasota Opera, Victorian Opera in concert with the Syracuse Symphony. Further performances include Brünnhilde in the Mini Ring for Minnesota Concert Opera, the title role of Aida for Hawaii Opera Theater, Maddalena in Andrea Chenier for Nashville Opera; Santuzza in Cavalleria Rusticana for Vancouver Opera, Opera de Québec and Arizona Opera; Leonora in Fidelio with Portland Opera and Minnie in La Fanciulla del West with Utah Opera. She sang many performances as Cio-Cio-San in Madama Butterfly, including the World Premiere of Jun Kaneko’s production for Opera Omaha. Other notable performances include Ariadne in Ariadne auf Naxos for Vancouver Opera; Gertrude in Hänsel und Gretel for Dallas Opera; Leonore in Il Trovatore with Florentine Opera; Lady Macbeth in Macbeth with Arizona Opera; Amelia in Un Ballo inMaschera for Seattle Opera, Opera Memphis and Vancouver Opera and The Kostelnička in Jenůfa for Sarasota Opera. The soprano’s recordings include the previously mentioned 2015 Grammy nominated performance (Naxos), Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis with the Nashville Symphony (Naxos), Ariane in Ariane et Barbe-bleue with the BBC Symphony (Telarc), for which she received worldwide acclaim. BBC Magazine raved: “Greatest plaudits go to Lori Phillips who is thoroughly convincing in the exceptionally difficult title role” and from The Guardian: “Lori Phillips tackles the demanding role of Ariane with authoritative aplomb.” She sang Signora Fabien in Volo di Notte and The Mother in Il Prigionero with the American Symphony Orchestra, recorded LIVE at Avery Fisher Hall. (Recordings are available on Amazon and/or iTunes). Also in concert, Ms. Phillips has sung Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis and Choral Fantasy at the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C., Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony with the Utah Symphony and Vermont Symphony Orchestras, Mahler’s 4th Symphony with the RI Philharmonic, the Foreign Princess in Rusalka with the Fort Worth Symphony, Santuzza in Cavalleria Rusticana with Minnesota Concert Opera and Leonore in Il Trovatore in a concert performance with Opera Santa Barbara. In 2016 Lori performed a rare all-Russian duet concert with her sister, mezzo-soprano Mary Phillips. The performance was presented at The French Embassy in Washington, D.C. This program was repeated in 2017 and 2024 for Music on the Hill in their home state of Rhode Island. An advocate of new music, Ms. Phillips has collaborated with American Opera Projects, where she sang many workshop productions of Jan Hamer’s The Lost Childhood, based on the book by Yehuda Nir. Lori created the role of Patience in the world Premiere of Kimper/Persons’ opera Patience and Sarah. Ms. Phillips’ has been invited to give master classes at a number of colleges & universities, including the University of Minnesota, the College of Charleston, San Jose State University, Brown University, Montclair State University, Rhode Island College, among others, and has served a number of times as a master teacher & adjudicator for Montgomery Symphony Orchestra’s VANN Vocal Institute. She is now on the voice faculty at her alma mater, Rhode Island College, and teaches voice for The Rhode Island Philharmonic School, as well as for the Community Music Project in her hometown of East Providence, RI.