PHILIP HORST

Bass-Baritone

Hailed by the San Francisco Chronicle for performances that are “excellent in every respect” and possessing a “handsome vocal style to go with [his] vivid comic display,” Philip Horst makes his Metropolitan Opera debut in the 2007-08 season in The Gambler.  Also this season, he joins the Honolulu Symphony for Beethoven’s Mass in C, sings Leporello in Don Giovanni with Opera Fuoco under the baton of David Stern, and returns to the New York City Ballet for repeat performances of Bernstein’s Dybbuk Mass.  In coming seasons, he sings his first performances of Mandryka in Arabella at the Theater St. Gallen, also with David Stern. 

He recently made his Washington National Opera debut as the Doctor in the American Premiere of Sophie’s Choice  and joined the company for its production of Gianni Schicchi.  He has also enjoyed a strong collaboration with the San Francisco Opera, where he was previously an Adler fellow.  With the company he has sung Leporello in Don Giovanni, Grech in Giordani’s Fedora in gala performances featuring Placido Domingo, Marullo in Rigoletto, Starek in Jenufa, Second Knight in Parsifal, Keeper of the Madhouse in The Rake’s Progress, and Bouncer/Bellboy/Footman/Politician in The Ballad of Baby Doe.

Mr. Horst has been seen on other American stages as Ulysses S. Grant in The Mother of Us All at New York City Opera, at the Palm Beach Opera as Grech in Fedora under the baton of Anton Guadagno, Lyric Opera of San Antonio as Enrico in Lucia di Lammermoor, and Dallas Opera as Baron Douphol in La Traviata.  Additional engagements of recent seasons have taken Mr. Horst to Opera Southwest for Scarpia in Tosca, Nevada Opera for the Count in Le nozze di Figaro, Dayton Opera for Ferrando in Il Trovatore, and the Todi Music Festival for Raimondo in Lucia di Lammermoor.  He has joined the Collegiate Chorale at Carnegie Hall for Silvano in a concert performance of Un ballo in maschera as well as Alcade and the Chirurgo in La forza del destino.

The bass-baritone has sung Don Alfonso in Così fan tutte, Bartolo in Il barbiere di Siviglia and Martino in Rossini’s L’occasione fa il ladro at the Wolf Trap Opera.  He also sang Dr. Miracle in Les Contes d’Hoffmann at the Aspen Opera Theater.  While a member of the prestigious Merola Program, he sang Mustafa in L’italiana in Algeri and alternated performances of the title role in Don Giovanni  and Leporello for the San Francisco Opera’s Western Opera Theater tour.

On the concert stage, he joined the San Francisco Symphony and Michael Tilson Thomas in Copland’s arrangement of “Golden Willow Tree” from Old American Songs, and the Cincinnati May Festival for Ebed Melech in Kurt Weill’s The Prophets  under the baton of James Conlon. Additional concert engagements have included Mozart’s Requiem with the Detroit Oratorio Society, Handel’s Messiah  with the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra, a Viennese New Year’s Eve concert with the Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra, and Berlioz’ Messe Solennelle with the Northern Kentucky Symphony.

Mr. Horst is a winner of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions and the recipient of the Marian Anderson Prize for Emerging Classical Artistsas well as Wolf Trap Opera’s Shouse Career Grant. The bass-baritone received his education at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, where he sang Méphistophélès in Faust and the title roles in Giulio Cesare and Gianni Schicchi.