Alumni—Philip Smith

Philip’s route to professional singing is rather circuitous, involving a Zoology degree and a Masters in Conservation and Biodiversity (both from the University of Leeds) a stint as the National Otter Surveyor of England and several years as one of the University of Leeds’ Disability Officers! He has always had a keen interest in music and performing, taking full advantage of student union choirs and local choral groups, but it wasn’t until 2004 that he took the leap, deciding to follow his dream and enter music college to study singing. At about the same time, he became involved with a number of period instrument performance groups in and around West Yorkshire, including Leeds Baroque Orchestra, his first concert with them being as bass soloist for the Bach St Matthew Passion in 2005.

Portrait of Philip Smith, Baritone Following a year at the Birmingham Conservatoire, where he won the Postgraduate Certificate Prize, Philip enrolled on the Postgraduate Diploma course at the RNCM, studying with Barbara Robotham. At the RNCM he performed many principal roles in the college operas, including Ramiro in L’Heure Espagnole (Ravel), Figaro in Le Nozze di Figaro (Mozart), Forester in Cunning Little Vixen (Janáček) and Macheath in The Threepenny Opera (Weill). He also won a number of awards, including the Joyce and Michael Kennedy Award for the singing of Strauss and the Elizabeth Harwood Memorial Prize. His studies were generously supported by the Fenton Arts Trust. He graduated from the RNCM with Distinction in 2008 and was awarded a 2008/09 Independent Opera Postgraduate Voice Fellowship.

Since leaving college, Philip has taken part in the Britten-Pears Young Artists’ Programme twice, benefitting from masterclasses with Michael Chance and Malcolm Martineau. He regularly performs in concerts and recitals across the UK and mainland Europe. In 2009 he performed at the Uzerche International Festival (France), in Krakow (Poland) and the Making Music Malta 2009 Festival. His appearances in the UK in the last year include a recital at the Leeds Lieder+ Festival, participation in a recital of Britten Song Cycles with Malcolm Martineau at the Aldeburgh Festival (a concert that was broadcast on BBC Radio 3) and a world premiere of Mieczysław Weinberg’s one-act opera Lady Magnesia with Ensemble 10/10 in Liverpool.

His operatic work includes Longborough Festival Opera (Morales in Carmen, Bizet), Opera by Definition (Leone in Tamerlano, Handel), Manchester Camerata (Aeneas in Dido & Aeneas, Purcell) the performance of which was broadcast on BBC Radio 3 in “Discovering Music”, Opera Minima (“c” in Rainforest, Martin Read and Philip Sealey) and understudying for Glyndebourne on Tour (Dancairo in Carmen).

Future plans include a return to Glyndebourne to sing in the chorus for the 2010 Festival, participation in the Samling Foundation Masterclass course and their Showcase Concert at the Wigmore Hall in December 2010, and a performance of Messiah (Handel) with the Leeds Philharmonic Society, also in December 2010.