“Luminous, the Pelléas of Phillip Addis, English but with perfect diction [has] a perfect voice for the role.” (Le Figaro)
“Baritone Phillip Addis (the Count) [is] extraordinarily talented…his commanding voice rings rich and true.” (Globe and Mail)
Canadian baritone Phillip Addis is praised for his creamy, bright, smooth voice as much as for his spell-binding, daring, yet sensitive interpretations. A rising star on the international stage, Addis has performed in opera, concerts and recitals throughout Canada, the United States, Europe and Japan.
PERFORMANCES
In the 2011-2012 season Phillip makes his house debut at l’Opéra national de Paris as Roderick Usher in Debussy’s unfinished opera The Fall of the House of Usher. He also returns to Montréal as Count Almaviva in Le Nozze di Figaro with l’Opéra de Montréal, Toronto’s Opera Atelier as Don Giovanni, and to the Calgary Opera as Marcello in La Bohème. Concert engagements include Handel’s Messiah in Ottawa with the National Arts Centre Orchestra and Maestro Trevor Pinnock and Orff’s Carmina Burana in Québec City with l’Orchestre symphonique de Québec conducted by Jacques Lacombe.
Following his highly acclaimed Paris debut in the title role of Pelléas et Mélisande with l’Opéra Comique and conducted by Sir John Eliot Gardiner, Phillip’s 2010-2011 season was marked by three major role debuts. He began with his debut as Jaufre Rudel in Kaija Saariaho’s L’Amour de loin in Antwerp with De Vlaamse Opera. In January 2011, he took on the second of his new roles when he appears in the title role of the rarely performed baritone version of Massenet’s Werther with l’Opéra de Montréal. The spring saw him return to the Atlanta Opera in his third role debut this season, as Gugliemo in Così fan tutte. As well, Phillip gave a recital in Toronto with the Aldeburgh Connection and concerts with the Omaha and Phoenix symphonies. In July, Phillip made a compelling role debut in the title role of Heinrich Marschner’s Der Vampyr at Le Festival de Lanaudière.
PREVIOUS SEASONS
Recent highlights include ▪ Phillip Addis ’s role debut as Belcore in Donizetti’s comic opera L’elisir d’amore with Atlanta Opera ▪ his New York debut as Roderick Usher in Debussy’s The Fall of the House of Usher with Opéra Français de New York ▪ his role debut as John Brooke in the Canadian premiere of Mark Adamo’s Little Women with Calgary Opera ▪ the Count in Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro with Opera Atelier ▪ Marcello in La Bohème in a new production at the Theater Basel ▪ Zurga in a new production of Les Pêcheurs de Perles with l’Opéra de Montréal ▪ Count Almaviva in the Florida Grand Opera production of Le Nozze di Figaro ▪ Mercutio in Gounod’s Romeo et Juliette with Opera Carolina ▪ Peter in Atlanta Opera’s Hansel und Gretel ▪ George in Carlisle Floyd’s Of Mice and Men with the Fort Worth Opera and ▪ Angelotti in the Calgary Opera’s Tosca.
A consummate concert artist and recitalist, he has performed he performed ▪ the title role in Elijah with the Amadeus Choir in Toronto ▪ the Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen with the Thunder Bay Symphony Orchestra ▪ Reinmar in a concert version of Tannhäuser with the Montreal Symphony Orchestra conducted by Kent Nagano ▪ Messiah with the Edmonton and New Brunswick symphonies and the Elora Festival Singers ▪ Mahler’s Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen with the Orchestre Symphonique de Quebec as well as the Ottawa and Thunder Bay Symphony Orchestras. He frequently appears in recital with pianist Emily Hamper in programs including Schubert’s most beloved song cycles Dichterliebe, Winterreise and Schwanengesang, most notably in Australia, at the Queensland Music Festival and on a tour of Canada’s Atlantic provinces.
BACKGROUND
Among Phillip Addis’s numerous awards and honours are First Prize in the 2004 Orchestre Symphonique de Montreal’s Standard Life Competition, First Prize in the 2004 Orchestre Symphonique de Quebec’s Canadian Concerto Competition, the 2005 Joseph Rouleau award from the Montreal International Music Competition. In March 2006 he also received the George London Foundation Encouragement award for a Canadian singer. In addition, Phillip Addis has received grants from the Jacqueline Desmarais Foundation for Young Canadian Opera Singers’ support programme from 2004-2009.
With a Bachelor of Music from Queen’s University and a diploma in operatic performance from the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Music, Phillip Addis began his operatic career in the apprenticeship program at the Atelier Lyrique de L’Opéra de Montréal with further studies at the Steans Institute at Ravinia, The Britten-Pears School and the Canadian Vocal Arts Institute.
