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BIOGRAPHY


Soprano Lori Phillips is widely acknowledged as possessing one of the most exciting and expressive dramatic voices in opera. In 2010, she made her Metropolitan Opera debut as Senta in Der Fliegende Holländer which was broadcast live on Sirius Satellite Radio. Also in 2010, Ms. Phillips made her role debut as Brünnhilde in Die Walküre with Hawaii Opera Theater. Opera News praised, "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." In 2013 she performs Senta in Der fliegender Holländer with Michigan Opera Theater and Arizona Opera and covers Brünnhilde in The Ring Cycle at both the Metropolitan Opera and Seattle Opera.

Throughout the 2011-2012 season, engagements included the title role in Aida with Hawaii Opera Theater, the title role in Turandot at the Seattle Opera, Santuzza in Cavalleria Rusticana at Arizona Opera, Brünnhilde cover in Der Ring des Nibelungen with the Seattle Opera, Brünnhilde cover in Die Walküre and Siegfried at the Metropolitan Opera, and performances in Wozzeck, Hänsel und Gretel, and Mussorgsky's Khovanshchina at the Metropolitan Opera. Noted recent engagements include the title role in Turandot with Opera Lyra Ottawa and Portland Opera, Maddalena in Andrea Chenier with the Nashville Opera, Senta in Der Fliegende Holländer in concert with the Syracuse Symphony, Santuzza in Cavalleria Rusticana with Opéra de Québec, and the title role in Turandot with Opera Carolina, Opera Birmingham and the Chattanooga Symphony and Opera, and Giorgetta in Il Tabarro and Turandot covers at the MET.

The 2008-2009 season included Leonora in Fidelio with Portland Opera; Beethoven's 9th Symphony with the Utah Symphony and Opera; The Mother in Il Prigionero and Signora Fabien in Volo di Notte with the American Symphony Orchestra at Avery Fisher Hall; and a tour in Japan with Asian American Symphony Orchestra, including a concert at Tokyo's International Forum.

In the recent 2007-2008 Season, Ms. Phillips sang the title role in Turandot with Atlanta Opera; Santuzza in Cavalleria Rusticana with Vancouver Opera; Senta in Der Fliegende Holländer with the Washington National Opera for which The Washington Post said, "at the Kennedy Center, American soprano Lori Phillips took the part of Senta and sang the aria superbly. Phillips made Johohoe! Traft ihr das Schiff a heartfelt display. The vocal line leapt and contracted...Phillips–skillfully applied color and detail; through a purposeful fragility, she unmasks Senta's devotion that eventually culminates in a mandatory Wagnerian love-death."

Additional noted engagements from recent seasons include New York City Opera in the title roles of Turandot and Madama Butterfly; Lady Macbeth in Macbeth with Arizona Opera; Ariadne in Ariadne auf Naxos with Vancouver Opera; title role in the world premiere of Jun Kaneko's production of Madama Butterfly for Opera Omaha; Minnie in La Fanciulla del West and Tosca with Utah Opera; Amelia in Un Ballo in Maschera for Seattle Opera, Vancouver Opera and Opera Memphis; Gertrude in Hänsel und Gretel for Dallas Opera; Senta in Der Fliegende Holländer with Hawaii Opera Theatre; Leonora in Il Trovatore with Florentine Opera; Turandot, Madama Butterfly and Desdemona in Otello with Nashville Opera and Tosca in Boston.

The award-winning soprano's concert and recording career include the 2007 release of Ariane et Barbe-bleue (Ariane) on Telarc with Leon Botstein and the BBC Symphony, for which she has received critical acclaim worldwide. Opera News said, "Aside from the brilliant orchestra, the other pillar here is the long, demanding part of Ariane...Lori Phillips masters the contradictory traits of this verbose heroine and shapes the irregular lines with idiomatic expressiveness." The BBC Magazine raved, "Lori Phillips is throughly convincing in the exceptionally difficult title role." She has also recorded Beethoven's Missa Solemnis for Naxos under the musical direction of Kenneth Schermerhorn.

Ms. Phillips has been heard in concert as the Foreign Princess in Rusalka with the Fort Worth Symphony and sings a vast array of symphonic repertoire. An advocate of new music, Ms. Phillips has frequently collaborated with American Opera Projects, where she continues work on Jan Hamer's The Lost Childhood, based on the book by Yehuda Nir and where she created the role of Patience in the world premiere of the Kimper/Persons' opera Patience and Sarah at the Lincoln Center Summer Festival.