ABOUT
Soprano Roberta Philip is currently undertaking her Master of Performance at Guildhall School of Music and Drama under the tutelage of John Evans, supported by the Help Musicians Postgraduate Award and The Behrens Foundation. She is a 2024 British Youth Opera Serena Fenwick artist and 2023-24 Pegasus Opera Company mentee.
A versatile opera and jazz singer, Roberta won first place in the 2024 Edith Poulsen Singing Prize Competition as part of the North London Festival of Music, Speech and Drama. She has been praised for her “beautifully sung” performances (The i, April ‘23) with "a lot of love in the music" (Everything Theatre, 'May 23). Prior to her masters, she read Music and English Literature at the University of Birmingham.
Highlights in Roberta’s singing portfolio include performing and walking in London Fashion Week, Wigmore Hall, National Gallery, and Biennale di Venezia, and in choruses at the Royal Albert Hall, Philharmonie de Paris and Lucerne Festival, Switzerland. In masterclasses, she has worked with leading industry professionals such as Danielle de Niese, David Gowland, Nelly Miricioiu, Malcolm Martineau and Catherine Wyn-Rogers.
After featuring as a soloist in Lambeth Council’s Windrush 75th Anniversary celebration, Roberta was centred in press coverage by some of the UK’s most eminent broadsheets, including The Guardian and The Mirror.
Past operatic roles include Una Novizia (Suor Angelica, West Green House Opera), Orpah (Ruth, Pegasus Opera Company) and Lady in Waiting (The Six of Calais, Pegasus Opera Company). In scenes, Atalanta (Serse), Frasquita (Carmen), Héro (Béatrice et Bénédict), Phénice (Armide) and Amy (Little Women) at Guildhall School. Miss Jessel (Turn of the Screw), Mathilde (Guillame Tell) and Fiordilligi (Cosi Fan Tutte) with Morley Opera.
Earlier this year, Roberta covered Barbarina in the English National Opera’s revival of The Marriage of Figaro. She makes her Buxton International Festival debut in the summer, premiering Thande Gumede’s Tears are not meant to stay inside as Nonvula, and performing Soprano chorus in Hamlet.