MARY WILSON (soprano) is acknowledged as one of today’s most exciting young artists. Cultivating a wide-ranging career singing chamber music, oratorio and operatic repertoire, her “bright soprano seems to know no terrors, wrapping itself seductively around every phrase” (Dallas Morning News 3/06). She continues to receive critical acclaim from coast to coast: “The discovery was Mary Wilson, a fine lyric soprano with focused, lustrous tone and sterling enunciation.” (The Philadelphia Inquirer 12/05) and “Her fast passages were flawless in intonation and seemingly easy in execution (the mark of a first-rate technique); her feel for the sound and meaning of words was impeccable; her mastery of Handel’s grand leaps and wide-ranging runs was total.” (San Francisco Classical Voice 4/06).

Having appeared previously with American Bach Soloists in performances of Messiah and a special program of virtuosic Handel cantatas, Ms. Wilson’s appearances for the 2006-2007 season include her debuts with Arizona Opera as Susanna in Le Nozze di Figaro; the Cincinnati Symphony in Mozart’s Mass in C Minor with Paavo Järvi; Omaha Symphony for Messiah; the Tucson Symphony for Carmina Burana; and Minnesota’s VocalEssence for Bolcom’s complete Songs of Innocence and Experience. She will return twice to the Los Angeles Philharmonic for Carmina Burana with Leonard Slatkin at the Hollywood Bowl, and again for an all-Bach program directed by Bernard Labadie. She is excited to return to the Dayton Philharmonic and the Virginia Symphony for Carmina Burana; the Columbus Symphony Orchestra for Mahler’s Symphony No. 4; and the Delaware Symphony for Handel’s Silete venti and Mahler’s Symphony No. 4. Ms. Wilson will make her European debut with Zubin Mehta and the Israeli Philharmonic as Konstanze in Mozart’s Die Entführung aus dem Serail. In the 2005-2006 season, Ms. Wilson made her debuts with Tulsa Opera as Zerbinetta in Ariadne auf Naxos and with The Minnesota Opera as La Colorature in the North American premiere of Laurent Petitgirard’s Joseph Merrick, The Elephant Man. Opera News heralded her performances, stating she “was a fabulous Zerbinetta… her bright, beautiful tone never faltered, and everything was wrapped in effortless suavity.” She was the soloist for Mahler’s Symphony No. 4 with the Los Angeles Philharmonic; Messiah with the Philadelphia Orchestra and Virginia Symphony; Mozart’s Mass in C Minor with Nicholas McGegan, with both the St. Louis Symphony and Kansas City Symphony; an encore program of Handel cantatas with American Bach Soloists; and Brahms’ Requiem with the Quad Cities Symphony.

Ms. Wilson recently created the role of Grand Duchess Christina in world premiere performances of Philip Glass’ Galileo Galilei in Chicago and New York, where Opera News lauded Ms. Wilson’s talent, saying “surely Glass intends for all of his singers to reflect the vocal lines as naturally as she does.” She sang the Missouri premiere of the Handel Gloria with the Bach Society of St. Louis, Carmina Burana with the Pennsylvania Ballet and Mozart’s Mass in C Minor with Jacksonville Symphony. Ms. Wilson also sang the role of the Controller in the North American premiere performances of Dove’s Flight at Opera Theatre of St. Louis. She sang her first Queen of the Night in Die Zauberflöte with Dayton Opera, and the Goddess Diana in Rameau’s Hippolytus and Aricia at Opera Theatre of St. Louis. She was a 1999 National Finalist in the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, was awarded the Adams Fellowship at the Carmel Bach Festival in California, and is the recipient of a career grant from Opera Theatre of St. Louis’ prestigious Richard Gaddes Fund for Opera Singers. She was named a 2004 “Emerging Artist” by Symphony Magazine, the publication’s first-ever compilation of up-and-coming classical soloists. Ms. Wilson holds performance degrees from St. Olaf College and Washington University in St. Louis and currently resides outside of Savannah, Georgia.

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