Press

“Neubauer’s sound was sexy and beckoning; it would be Heaven just to have him lullaby one to sleep every evening. From the beginning, he established himself as a big personality, even in this understated opening. His lines were long, drawn and hushed, spinning a beautiful sound for Phillips to sing with. This was early on one of her best songs on the program. Her instrument is luminescent and feminine, and she crooned in the same drawn-out long lines as the viola. The stillness was mesmerizing, making for great hopes for this afternoon delight of a program.”

— Boston Music Intelligencer

“First, the pairing of soprano and viola is not commonly heard, but proved to be felicitous. Ms. Phillips has a clear lyric soprano voice, even from the bottom to the top of her range, but with plenty of sound that filled the church...Mr. Neubauer and Ms. McDermott gave them sensitive readings, emphasizing the interplay between the viola and piano. This was collaborative music-making at its best.”

— Cleveland Classical

“Ever been to a chamber concert that began with a performer whistling “It’s a Long Way to Tipperary”? Well, neither had I until violist Paul Neubauer, pianist Anne-Marie McDermott and soprano Susanna Phillips strode onstage Sunday evening at the University of Richmond’s Camp Concert Hall. Neubauer, with a smile, pursed his lips and launched into that popular World War I tune. It set the tone perfectly for a lighthearted and charming, yet often dramatic, evening of world-class music making. The program was titled “Songs for Soprano,” but it was really a performance that showcased the talents of all three of these fine musicians. Although they’re all highly acclaimed solo performers who’ve appeared on stages throughout the world, they’ve also performed this repertoire of salon-style songs together on numerous occasions — and it showed in their refined sense of ensemble and unity of artistic vision. Phillips exhibited a strong yet flexible and warm lyric soprano, Neubauer showed expressive and effortless obbligato playing, and McDermott demonstrated the ultimate accompanist’s sensibility in controlling her dynamics, never overpowering the others even with the lid of the Steinway grand fully open. A particular high spot in the first half was McDermott’s and Neubauer’s rendition of Robert Schumann’s “Märchenbilder” (“Pictures from a Fairy Land”) for piano and viola. Although ostensibly written to be performed by amateurs at home, this four-movement piece, sometimes sonorously sad, sometimes frenetic and extroverted, is technically formidable. It takes players of the caliber of McDermott and Neubauer to bring it off, which they did masterfully. The evening highlight was “Widmung” (“Dedication”) for voice and piano by Robert Schumann, coupled with Franz Liszt’s transcription of the same piece for solo piano. Phillip’s passionate rendering of the text by Friederich Rückert was splendid, and McDermott had her own shining moment as her stunning virtuosity exploded in the all-too-brief Liszt transcription.”

— Richmond Times-Dispatch

“Soprano Susanna Phillips defies convention with enchanting program of songs with viola.”

— Plain Dealer (Cleveland)

SPA Trio 01 Color [credit Tristan Cook]ps.jpg

SPA Trio 03 Color [credit Tristan Cook]ps.jpg

SPA Trio

Susanna Phillips, soprano*
Paul Neubauer, viola
Anne-Marie McDermott, piano*

Historic recordings of some of the great singers of yesteryear include numerous performances of salon type songs that included an obbligato instrument. Some of these pairings included Enrico Caruso with Mischa Elman, John McCormack with Fritz Kreisler, Marian Anderson with William Primrose, Alma Gluck with her husband Efrem Zimbalist, as well as Bing Crosby and Jascha Heifetz! Susanna Phillips, Paul Neubauer and Anne-Marie McDermott continue this tradition with SPA. This trio of stellar artists first performed together in 2011 in Curacao, in the Netherlands Antilles, and have enjoyed exploring and performing songs that include an obbligato instrument. Zachary Lewis at The Plain Dealer (Cleveland) sums it up: “But it wasn’t just the lineup, which included the remarkable pianist Anne-Marie McDermott, that made the evening so special. Also unique was the repertoire itself, a fetching blend of art and parlor songs from all over 19th- and 20th-century Europe. Phillips herself required zero assistance. A singer known for starring roles at New York’s Metropolitan Opera, she proved a singular authority, brandishing a golden, powerful instrument and treating each song to generous servings of eloquence and feeling. But how much better to hear Phillips in tandem with Neubauer, a former principal violist of the New York Philharmonic, and witness the gorgeous dovetailing of the viola’s warm, expressive tone with that of the human voice, its closest musical relation. At times, the two were almost indistinguishable.”

Alabama-born soprano Susanna Phillips continues to establish herself as one of today’s most sought-after singing actors and recitalists. Ms. Phillips is a recipient of The Metropolitan Opera’s 2010 Beverly Sills Artist Award. Known for her sparkling portrayal of Musetta in “La Bohème”, Ms. Phillips has sung at the Met for 12 consecutive seasons in the roles of Musetta, Pamina, Donna Anna, Rosalinde, Antonia/Stella, Micaëla, Donna Elvira, and most recently as Countess Almaviva - a role very close to her heart. Role highlights at the Met include Fiordigili, which The New York Times called a “breakthrough night”, and Clémence in the Met premiere of Kaija Saariaho’s “L’amour de Loin”. Ms. Phillips was also a featured artist in the Met’s Summer Recital Series.

In the 2020-2021 season, Ms. Phillips returns to Santa Fe Opera as Lucy Harker in the world premiere of John Corigliano’s The Lord of Cries. She also gives a recital at the 92nd Street Y featuring Schubert’s Der Hirt auf dem Felsen, alongside clarinetist Anthony McGill and pianist Myra Huang, and joins the Oratorio Society of New York in a virtual performance of Handel’s Messiah. Previously scheduled engagements include performances at the Metropolitan Opera as Micaela in Carmen, as well as a concert with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center featuring music by Handel and Copland, performances of Mendelssohn’s Symphony No. 2 with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, and a recital tour alongside mezzo-soprano Sasha Cooke featuring music exclusively by female composers. Additionally, February 2021 marked the release of a new CD with Michael Tilson Thomas and the San Francisco Symphony, featuring Berg’s Sieben Frühe Lieder, from a recording made in 2018.

Highly in demand by the world’s most prestigious orchestras, Ms. Phillips has appeared with the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic under Alan Gilbert, Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony, Philadelphia Orchestra, Philadelphia Chamber Music Society, Santa Fe Symphony, Santa Barbara Symphony, Milwaukee Symphony, St. Louis Symphony, Gulbenkian Orchestra, Orchestra of St. Luke’s, Atlanta Symphony, Santa Fe Concert Association, La Jolla Music Society’s SummerFest, Boston Baroque, Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, and her native Huntsville Symphony where she celebrated the bicentennial of Alabama performing Strauss’s “Vier Letzte Lieder”.

Ms. Phillips is dedicated to oratorio works with credits including Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, Mahler’s Second and Fourth Symphonies, Mozart’s “Coronation Mass”, the Fauré and Mozart Requiems, and “Carmina Burana”. An avid chamber music collaborator, Ms. Phillips has worked frequently with pianist Myra Huang. Together they have performed solo recitals all over the United States. Ms. Phillips also co-founded Twickenham Fest, a chamber music festival in her native Huntsville, Alabama alongside bassoonist and Huntsville native, Matthew McDonald. In 2019, the festival celebrated its 10th Anniversary of chamber music with over ten concerts ranging from a children’s concert, to a late night Bach concert, and Philip Lasser’s “Colors of Feeling”.

A native of Huntsville, Alabama, over 400 people traveled from her hometown to New York City for Ms. Phillips’ Metropolitan Opera debut in La bohème. She returns frequently to her native state for recitals and orchestral appearances.

Violist Paul Neubauer’s exceptional musicality and effortless playing led The New York Times to call him “a master musician.” He recently made his Chicago Symphony subscription debut with conductor Riccardo Muti and his Mariinsky Orchestra debut with conductor Valery Gergiev. He also gave the US premiere of the newly discovered Impromptu for viola and piano by Shostakovich with pianist Wu Han. In addition, his recording of the Aaron Kernis Viola Concerto with the Royal Northern Sinfonia was released on Signum Records and his recording of the complete viola and piano music by Ernest Bloch with pianist Margo Garrett was released on Delos. Appointed principal violist of the New York Philharmonic at age 21, he has appeared as soloist with over 100 orchestras including the New York, Los Angeles, and Helsinki philharmonics; National, St. Louis, Detroit, Dallas, San Francisco, and Bournemouth symphonies; and Santa Cecilia, English Chamber, and Beethovenhalle orchestras. He has premiered viola concertos by Bartók (revised version of the Viola Concerto), Friedman, Glière, Jacob, Kernis, Lazarof, Müller-Siemens, Ott, Penderecki, Picker, Suter, and Tower and has been featured on CBS’s Sunday Morning, A Prairie Home Companion, and in Strad, Strings, and People magazines. A two-time Grammy nominee, he has recorded on numerous labels including Decca, Deutsche Grammophon, RCA Red Seal, and Sony Classical and is a member of SPA, a trio with soprano Susanna Phillips and pianist Anne-Marie McDermott. Mr. Neubauer is the artistic director of the Mostly Music series in New Jersey and is on the faculty of The Juilliard School and Mannes College.

Pianist Anne-Marie McDermott is a consummate artist who balances a versatile career as a soloist and collaborator. She performs over 100 concerts a year in a combination of solo recitals, concerti and chamber music. Her repertoire choices are eclectic, spanning from Bach and Haydn to Prokofiev and Scriabin to Kernis, Hartke, Tower and Wuorinen. In addition to performing, she also serves as Artistic Director of the Bravo! Vail Music and Ocean Reef Music Festivals, as well as Curator for Chamber Music for the Mainly Mozart Festival in San Diego.

With over 50 concerti in her repertoire, Ms. McDermott has performed in recent seasons with the Philadelphia Orchestra, Buffalo Philharmonic, North Carolina Symphony, Charlotte Symphony, Huntsville Symphony, Alabama Symphony, San Diego Symphony, the Oregon Mozart Players, and the New Century Chamber Orchestra. She has also performed with the Philadelphia, Minnesota, Los Angeles Chamber and Australian Chamber orchestras, the New York and Hong Kong philharmonics as well as the Dallas, National, Houston, Pittsburgh, St. Louis, Atlanta, New Jersey and Baltimore symphonies.

As a chamber music performer, Anne-Marie McDermott was named an artist member of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center in 1995 and performs and tours extensively with CMS each season. She continues to perform each season with her sisters, Maureen McDermott and Kerry McDermott in the McDermott Trio. Ms. McDermott regularly performs at Festivals across the United States including, Spoleto, Mainly Mozart, Sante Fe, La Jolla Summerfest, Mostly Mozart, Newport, Caramoor, Bravo, Chamber Music Northwest, Aspen, Music from Angelfire, and the Festival Casals in Puerto Rico, among others.

She has also released an all Schumann CD with violist, Paul Neubauer, as well as the Complete Chamber Music of Debussy with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. Ms. McDermott has also recorded the complete Prokofiev Piano Sonatas, Bach English Suites and Partitas (which was named Gramophone Magazine’s Editor’s Choice), and most recently, Gershwin Complete Works for Piano and Orchestra with the Dallas Symphony and Justin Brown. Ms. McDermott studied at the Manhattan School of Music with Dalmo Carra, Constance Keene and John Browning. She was a winner of the Young Concert Artists auditions and was awarded an Avery Fisher Career Grant.

*While the SPA Trio is represented by Dinin Arts Management & Consulting, the solo career of soprano Susanna Phillips is managed separately by IMG Artists and the solo career of pianist Anne-Marie McDermott is managed by Opus 3 Artists.