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The American bass-baritone, Craig Phillips, is a doctoral candidate at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.
Craig Phillips is an established operatic and concert soloist. Possessing a "handsome, elegant bass" (New York Times), he has distinguished himself as a gifted singing actor, performing a wide range of repertoire with companies including Glimmerglass Opera, Florida Grand Opera, New York City Opera and Boston Lyric Opera. From Monteverdi to Nico Muhly, his credits as a concert artist include appearances with Eastern Music Festival, Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, and Washington National Cathedral.
Praised for his “suave baritone” (Dallas Morning News), Craig Phillips is becoming a fixture on opera stages and concert halls around the country. For his portrayal of Argenio in George Frideric Handel's Imeneo with Glimmerglass Opera, The New York Times cited his “appealing, sturdy bass-baritone” among a cast of “fresh-voiced and impressive artists.” As Nardo in New York City Opera‘s W.A. Mozart's La finta giardiniera, the New York Sun singled-out Phillips as one of the “true lights of the production”, highlighting both his “clear lyric bass baritone” and “great talent for physical comedy.”
Appearing with Glimmerglass Opera for six consecutive seasons in a wide range of repertoire, Craig Phillips has distinguished himself as a gifted singing actor. His roles included Count Oscar in Offenbach’s Bluebeard, Raymond in Lucie de Lammermoor, The English Clerk in Benjamin Britten’s Death in Venice, and, most recently, the Police Sergeant in Pirates of Penzance. Other recent engagements include Sam in Un ballo in maschera with Florida Grand Opera; Pirate King in Pirates of Penzance with Nashville Opera; Leporello in W.A. Mozart's Don Giovanni with Pensacola Opera; and Marquis d’Obigny in La traviata with New York City Opera.
As a concert soloist, Craig Phillips has appeared with prominent orchestras, chamber ensembles, and choirs around the country. Notable engagements include J.S. Bach's St. Matthew Passion (BWV 244) with The New York Collegium and with Washington Bach Consort (Director: J. Reilly Lewis); Dvorak’s Stabat Mater with the Oakland East Bay Symphony; bass soloist in G.F. Handel's Messiah with the American Classical Orchestra, Concert Royal, and Washington National Cathedral; Haman in G.F. Handel's Esther with Albany Pro Musica; bass soloist in G.F. Handel's Israel in Egypt with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra; and Igor Stravinsky's Requiem Canticles with Gotham City Orchestra and bass soloist in L.v. Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 with The New York Chamber Sinfonia. Phillips has just returned from singing Judas in J.S. Bach's St. Matthew Passion (BWV 244) with Musica Angelica Los Angeles and Orchester Wiener Akademie for the opening of the Festival de Mexico en el Centro Historico in Mexico City, Mexico.
Engagements this season include Raphael in Haydn’s Creation with the Handel Choir of Baltimore; a Weill Recital Hall debut with Clarion Music Society in Berezovsky’s Do Not Forget Me in My Old Age; Cornelius in the premiere of John Eaton’s Pumped Fiction for the American Composers Alliance 50th Anniversary Festival of American Music; and the bass solos in Messiah with Concert Royal and The Saint Thomas Choir. In addition, he makes his Sarasota Opera debut as Rambaldo in La rondine.
Craig Phillips is a founding member of the acclaimed male classical vocal quartet New York Polyphony. Founded in 2006, New York Polyphony is recognized as one of the finest early music groups active today. Praised for a “rich, natural sound that’s larger and more complex than the sum of its parts,” (National Public Radio) the ensemble’s growing discography includes two GRAMMY®-nominated releases and albums that have topped the “best of” lists of The New Yorker, Gramophone, BBC Music Magazine, and The New York Times. New York Polyphony maintains an active touring schedule, participating in major concert series and festivals around the world. Recent engagements include debuts at London's Wigmore Hall and The Royal Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, residencies at Dartmouth College and Stanford University, and appearances at the Tage Alter Musik Regensburg, Festival Oude Muziek Utrecht, and Thüringer Bachwochen.
In addition to performing, Craig Phillips is the director of The Revelers Project, a research initiative aimed at restoring the legacy of the Revelers, the preeminent recording and radio quartet of the 1920's and 1930's. He has served on the faculties of the Amherst Early Music Festival, Madison Early Music Festival and High Point University. He is represented by Scott Levine Management. |
