Interview with Heather Phillips

Heather Phillips was a Kentucky Opera studio artist in 2008 & 2009.  In our Brown-Forman 2011/12 Kentucky Opera Season, Heather Phillips will be one of the mainstage artists - Micaëla in CARMEN.   
Recently Shane Shapps of 520 East Brands had a chat with Heather about Opera, Louisville and everything inbetween.

When did you know Opera was your future?

“Probably when I first saw my first opera at the age of about 13. My Mother and I went to see Puccini's Madame Butterfly at Cleveland Opera and I was blown away. Even though our seats were in the "nose-bleed" section of the balcony of the theatre and I couldn't really see a lot of detail of what was going on onstage...I was so deeply affected by the power of the voices, the orchestra and the music. From then on, I was instantly hooked on Opera and had to find out more about it.”

How long have you been studying/practicing Opera?

“A little over 10 years now. I started private voice lessons when I was about 15 or 16 years old and after high school studied for 6 years at the Conservatory in Cincinnati, where I earned my Bachelor's and Master's degrees in Vocal Performance. After that, I apprenticed with the Cincinnati Opera, Kentucky Opera, and Lyric Opera of Kansas City as well as other summer programs in between. I still however, and always will, consider myself a student of opera...it’s an art form with a rich history that is over 400 years old. There is always something new to learn. That's what makes it so intriguing to me.”

What's the greatest city you've been to? 

“Well in my travels thus far, I have visited a fair amount of the bigger or what you might call ‘grand’ cities. I lived in NYC for little while, and I recently visited Paris, which I loved, just last year. However the best city I've been to has to be Lucca, Italy. It’s a wonderful "little" city in Tuscany just an hour or so away from Pisa. It’s the birthplace of the famous opera composer Giacomo Puccini, and I spent a summer there studying Italian and singing in an opera production. To me, from the food and wine, to the history and culture and atmosphere of the town...it was heaven on earth.” 

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Heather Phillips with Jake Heggie in
Kentucky Opera's Composer Workshop 2009

 Wow. Those are some amazing cities. You are a very lucky person. What makes you look forward to returning to Louisville? 

“Definitely the people at Kentucky Opera - they were a real support system for me while I was a studio artist, right out of college. But I'm not only looking forward to seeing the people that work for the company, but the audience members and supporters of the Opera that are a part of the community of Louisville - a very social and fun-loving group.
What's your favorite part of the city? 

I really enjoyed the Riverfront and the park near the river and near the "Belle of Louisville.” That area is great for an afternoon run. But I also liked the restaurants and shops on Bardstown road.

What's your favorite local restaurant in Louisville? 

“Proof on Main was a great place for its atmosphere and great food. The other artists from the company and I would go there a lot after performances.”

Watch these videos to hear Heather sing Poulenc

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 and Mozart 

And on this very blog where she is Learning to fly for Kentucky Opera's Hansel & Gretel.

Here she is as one of the daugthers in Kentucky Opera's Pirates of Penzance. (green dress with the orange feather)

We are always glad to see our Studio Artists succeed, watch this shining star soar!

Kentucky Opera in PRINT!

Lookie lookie who made the cover of Opera America's "Year in Review"

Yes folks, you got it right! That's Elizabeth Futral and Sebastian Gueze in the opening production of Kentucky Opera's 2009 Brown-Forman Fall Season, La Traviata! This beautiful photo was taken by O'Neil Arnold.

You may also recognize the handsome Adam Diegel (under the Traviata image) performing in Florida Grand Opera's Carmen with Kendall Galden (photo by Gaston De Cardenas). Adam closed our 2010 Brown Forman Fall Season as B.F. Pinkerton in our two sold-out performances of Madame Butterfly.

Also on this cover: Roberth Orth and Sally Dibblee in Vancouver Opera's 2010 Production of Nixon in China (photo by Tim Matheson) and Katherine Whyte with David Daniels in Orfeo and Euridice for Atlanta Opera (photo by Tim Wilkerson).

What a great gift to be recognized by the industry leader in this way. It's a great image, and O'Neil has done great work for us.

Kentucky Opera also has images in The Daily Book of Classical Music where O'Neil's Traviata image is featured along with John Fitzgerald's Cenerentola, Pearl Fishers and Salome images and J. David Levy's Otello and Hansel & Gretel images. These still shots are a testament to the high quality performances for which Kentucky Opera is becoming known.

Hansel & Gretel Rehearsal Video

Last night was Kentucky Opera's final dress rehearsal for Hansel & Gretel. We had a great crowd of appreciative students and the reactions of the audience really increased the energy of the show.

My guy Matt from Videobred was quite efficient with his videography. Here is the footage we captured and sent to the TV staions.



Anya Matanovic as Gretel
Leah Wool as Hansel
Victoria Livengood as the Witch
Andrea Graves as the Familiar
Kentucky Opera children's chorus

Tickets for Hansel & Gretel are still available by calling 502.584.7777 or by visiting KYopera.org. We are still doing the buy one adult ticket get one child ticket free!

A Delicious Opportunity!

From the Guild of Kentucky Opera:

The witch's house on stage.

Hansel and Gretel is fun. It's got cute kids, a sandman, a dew fairy and the mean ole witch who lives in a gingerbread house dripping with candy to entice her victims! The Guild of Kentucky Opera is always looking for new ideas to raise funds and found this opera wrought with possibilities!

Since Hansel and Gretel takes the stage at the Brown Theatre the weekend before Thanksgiving and the advent of the holiday season, Kitty Shaw, the Guild Treasurer, had the wonderful idea of finding a local baker to make us a gingerbread house. The original thought was a charming, standard gingerbread house. Then, when the challenge was brought to the talents of Helen Friedman, the owner of the exceptionally decadent Desserts by Helen offered to make a house based on actual witch's house that will be in the production. This was an opportunity NOT to pass up. So the Guild brought the master baker photographs of the set, and off she and her talented staff went. In a little over two weeks, Desserts by Helen crafted a tabletop version of the witch's house adding snow covered trees, gingerbread men, and a snow covered base. Although all of the elements are completely edible, we doubt you will want to consume this piece of gingerbread art!

The gingerbread house crafted by Deserts by Helen.

The Guild of Kentucky Opera is raffling tickets for the house at $10 apiece. The drawing will be on December 8 at the Guild's holiday party. Tickets are available at both performances (11/20 & 11/22) of Hansel and Gretel AND the final dress rehearsal for students tomorrow (Wednesday 11/18). You can also contact Tracy Terry at 561-7935 or tracy_terry@kyopera.org.

For more information on Hansel and Gretel go to the website! KYOpera.org.

Posted for The Guild of Kentucky Opera

See Heather Fly!

Heather Phillips is in her second year of the Kentucky Opera Studio Artists program. Last season she participated in the mainstage productions, education programs and the Composer Workshop with Jake Heggie. This season, not only did she get to workshop Ben Moore's Enemies a Love Story, have a master class with Carlisle Floyd, and sing along side the likes of Elizabeth Futral... she also gets to fly.

On one of the coldest days Louisville has seen this year, Heather Phillips got a flying lesson in the dojo of ZFX Flying to prepare for her role as the Dew Fairy in Kentucky Opera's upcoming production of Hansel and Gretel. The ZFX Dojo is a warehouse with tall ceilings, a padded floor and no heat. I was able to capture a bit of her flying lesson on video but because it was so cold, some of the footage is a bit shaky (lets use that as an excuse). The kilt wearing flying director, Jason Schumacher, guided Heather through a pretty tough workout and we all soon realized that it's not as easy as Peter Pan makes it look.

In the video, she is learning flips and a superman style of flying. She won't have to do this sort of acrobatics for Hansel and Gretel, but it really shows her how to move and work in the harness.

You can see Heather fly on Friday, November 20 at 8pm and Sunday, November 22 at 2pm at the Brown Theatre. You can buy your tickets here or by calling 502.584.4777.

Are you ready for Hansel & Gretel?

Hansel & Gretel is next week!!
If you haven't boned up on Humperdink, here are a few ways to get more out of your operatic experience.

Watch METRO TV:
Kentucky Opera's Lunch & Listen will be aired on Insight chanel 25
Wednesday, 11/11 at 2pm
Thursday, 11/12 at 9:30am
and Sunday 11/15 at 9pm

You can listen to the podcast at WUOL.org

Here is a portion of the Lunch & Listen where our conductor, Steven White talks about the music, the conductor and the Brown Theatre.