American mezzo-soprano MARY PHILLIPS has garnered praise for her compelling stage presence in a wide range of repertoire. She made her international opera debut in Tenerife (Canary Islands) in concert performances of Die Walküre (Rossweise), and she has since repeated the role at the Dallas Opera, in her Seattle Opera debut, and with the Metropolitan Opera. She made her debut at the Gran Teatre Del Liceu in Barcelona the Sarasota Opera as the Composer in Ariadne auf Naxos in 2003/2004.

Phillips' recent concert engagements include a Carnegie Hall concert performance of Ernani with the Opera Orchestra of New York. She made her debut at the Gottingen Handel Festival last spring as Irene in Atalanta, a role she will repeat with Philharmonia Baroque in fall 2005. She also appeared at Lincoln Center's Avery Fisher Hall with the American Symphony Orchestra led by Leon Botstein for a concert performance of the rarely performed Zemlinsky opera Eine florentinische Trägodie in the role of Bianca.

Phillips made her New York Philharmonic debut in the world premiere of Michael Torke's Four Seasons and Aaron Jay Kernis's Garden of Light under the leadership of Music Director Kurt Masur. Other concert appearances include Mahler's Symphony No. 2 with the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the Hong Kong Philharmonic; a Dallas Symphony debut in Szymanowski's Stabat Mater and the Mozart Requiem; her Pittsburgh Symphony debut in Tchaikovsky's rarely-heard Ophelia Songs; and Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 with the Boston Symphony Orchestra in performances conducted by Hans Graf at Tanglewood.

Phillips holds degrees in music and theater from Rhode Island College and a master's degree in music from Yale University. She is a recipient of the Kennedy Center National Acting Award and was the Eastern Regional Winner of the 1994 Metropolitan Opera Auditions. She was selected as an apprentice in the Santa Fe Opera and has performed at the Marlboro Festival and the Ravinia Steans Institute for Young Artists.