Education

• M.M., Master of Music, Washington University, 2000
• B.M., Bachelor of Music, St. Olaf College, 1992

Biography

Soprano MARY WILSON has been hailed as one of today's most exciting artists, receiving critical acclaim for a voice that is “lyrical and triumphant, a dazzling array of legato melodies and ornate coloratura” (San Francisco Chronicle).   Opera News heralded her first solo recording, Mary Wilson Sings Handel, stating “Wilson’s luminous voice contains so much charisma,” they dubbed her recording one of their “Best of the Year.”

In consistent high demand on the concert stage, she has appeared with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra, Cleveland Orchestra, St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, Pacific Symphony, Nashville Symphony, Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, Los Angeles Master Chorale, Detroit Symphony, Colorado Symphony, Charlotte Symphony, Memphis Symphony Orchestra, Buffalo Philharmonic, National Symphony of Costa Rica, Singapore Symphony, Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, Delaware Symphony Orchestra, Jacksonville Symphony, Virginia Symphony, Eugene Symphony, Rhode Island Philharmonic, Dayton Philharmonic, Boulder Philharmonic, San Antonio Symphony, Santa Fe Symphony, Colorado Music Festival, IRIS Chamber Orchestra, VocalEssence, Berkshire Choral Festival, and at Carnegie Hall and the Hollywood Bowl.  She has frequently worked with conductors Jeffrey Thomas, Nicholas McGegan, Martin Pearlman, Martin Haselböck, Robert Moody, Carl St. Clair, JoAnn Falletta, Giancarlo Guerrero, John Sinclair, Anton Armstrong, and Leonard Slatkin.  With the IRIS Chamber Orchestra, she sang the World Premiere of the song cycle “Songs Old and New” written especially for her by Ned Rorem. She was named an Emerging Artist by Symphony Magazine in the publication’s first ever presentation of promising classical soloists on the rise.

An exciting interpreter of Baroque repertoire, “with a crystal clear and agile soprano voice perfectly suited to Handel's music” (Early Music America), Ms. Wilson has repeatedly appeared with American Bach Soloists, Philharmonia Baroque, Musica Angelica, Boston Baroque, Portland Baroque Orchestra, Grand Rapids Bach Festival, Bach Society of St. Louis, Chatham Baroque, Musica Sacra Festival de Quito Ecuador, Baltimore Handel Choir, Florida Bach Festival Society of Winter Park, Colorado Bach Festival, the Brooklyn Academy of Music, the Casals Festival in Puerto Rico, and the Carmel Bach Festival.  

Equally at home on the opera stage, she is especially noted for her portrayals of Zerbinetta in Ariadne auf Naxos, Susannah in Le Nozze di Figaro, and Gilda in Rigoletto. She has created leading roles in North American and World Premiere performances of Dove’s Flight, Glass’ Galileo Galilei, and Petitgirard’s Joseph Merrick dit L’Elephant Man. A National Finalist of the 1999 Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, she has appeared with Opera Theatre of St. Louis, Minnesota Opera, Boston Lyric Opera, Dayton Opera, Arizona Opera, Tulsa Opera, Opera Memphis, Opera Southwest, the Brooklyn Academy of Music and the Goodman Theatre. 

Ms. Wilson is the Co-Founder and Co-Executive Director of the Bach Festival Society of Winter Park Oratorio Competition for young American singers specializing in oratorio repertoire, whose inaugural competition is scheduled for February 2025. In addition, she is on faculty and leads the Teaching Fellowship Program for the International Performing Arts Institute taking place in Germany every July. 

An accomplished pianist, Ms. Wilson holds vocal performance degrees from St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota, and Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri. She is an Associate Professor of Voice and Vocal Area Coordinator at the University of Memphis, and resides in Bartlett, Tennessee, with her husband, son, and two dogs.