Mary Wilson
Soprano MARY WILSON has been hailed as one of today’s most exciting artists, receiving consistent 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, Alabama Symphony Orchestra, Rochester Philharmonic, 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, Sarasota 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 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 Director of the highly anticipated Bach Festival Society of Winter Park Oratorio Competition for American Singers specializing in oratorio repertoire, whose inaugural competition is scheduled for February 2025. In addition, she is on voice faculty and leads the Teaching Fellowship Program for the Institute of Performing Arts International taking place in Kiefersfelden, 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 the Vocal Area Coordinator at the University of Memphis.
Current & Upcoming Performances
Past Performances
Mahler Symphony No. 8
NASHVILLE SYMPHONY
March 29, 2025 – Music City Review
“The soloists too, were excellent. In particular [Mater Gloriosa, soprano Mary Wilson} high in a balcony offstage, was incredible.”
Handel La Resurrezione
BACH FESTIVAL SOCIETY OF WINTER PARK
February 16, 2025 – Orlando Sentinel
“And soprano Mary Wilson makes a commanding angel, especially potent when leading a chorus of all the voices in one harmonious song of triumph. The 90th festival is off to its own triumphant start.”
Handel Apollo et Dafne
Rameau Pygmalion (L’Amour)
AMERICAN BACH SOLOISTS
May 9, 2023 – San Francisco Classical Voice
“Daphne’s role is much the opposite of Apollo’s, beginning serenely — before Apollo starts to harass her — and quickly amping up into energetic and articulate assertions of her right to live free from the god’s advances. Soprano Mary Wilson caught perfectly the combination of anger, pride, and sorrow in Daphne’s varied arias and in the protagonists’ dramatic duets.”
“Mary Wilson returned as Amour, gracefully bringing the statue to life with some lovely mystical music…
The overall effect of the evening was humane in the best sense — talented musicians generously sharing music they obviously love.”
The Oratorio Artist: An Interview with Soprano Mary Wilson
May/June, 2022 – Classical Singer Magazine
“Soprano Mary Wilson has made a name for herself in oratorio repertoire. She shares her experiences in this interview. Wilson is also a masterclass presenter at the CS Music Convention.” (click here for full article)
Mendelssohn Elijah
BACH FESTIVAL SOCIETY OF WINTER PARK FL
February 21, 2022 – Orlando Sentinel
“All the soloists delivered on the moments provided by Mendelssohn, from soprano Mary Wilson’s reassuring “Be not afraid” aria to…”
Haydn Creation
KEY CHORALE SARASOTA FL
February 16, 2020 – Sarasota Herald-Tribune
“From her first notes Mary Wilson’s soprano proved most angelic with a spinning glimmer and easy flexibility. Trilling along with orchestral twitters she depicted the soaring and song of birds in the opening part two aria.
Ferrill and Wilson wove together beautifully in a love duet as Adam and Eve which would have fit well in a Mozart opera. Yet in this context it felt elevated by the bliss of Eden that shone through the entire third and final part of “The Creation.”
Handel Messiah
NASHVILLE SYMPHONY
December 25, 2019 – Music City Review
“Another magnificent moment was Soprano Mary Wilson’s performance in the delightful shift from secco recitative to the accompanied (“And the Angel Said unto Them” followed by “And Suddenly there Was with the Angel”) that opens the second half of Part One. She created a nuanced dramatic shift that articulated her character’s awareness behind the words she was singing as though her recognition of the “heav’nly host” emerged slowly in its presence – a moment well-articulated by Maestro Guerrero’s delicate direction.”
Handel Messiah
NASHVILLE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
December 22, 2019 – BoomerCity.com
“Soloists Mary Wilson… performed with breathtaking feeling from their hearts.”
Artist Profile Interview
MEMPHIS SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
December 2, 2019 – DailyMemphian.com
“Messiah’ soprano for hire: Mary Wilson loves to tell Handel’s old, old story.” (click here for full article)
Mozart Requiem
MILWAUKEE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
November 23, 2019 – Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
“[Yaniv] Dinur and the combined ensembles were joined in Friday’s opening of the weekend’s concerts by soprano Mary Wilson,… Each of the vocalists delivered lovely solo moments throughout the course of the piece,”
Pergolesi Stabat Mater
AMERICAN BACH SOLOISTS
August 12, 2019 – Berkeley Daily Planet
“Possessed of an incomparably bright, lush and full soprano, Mary Wilson also combines flawless technique with an ability to get inside the music, as it were, and to vocally portray the emotional content of the words she sings… Mary Wilson has for many years been an invaluable asset to the American Bach Soloists.
…this pair of singers is outstanding; and here they excelled in Pergolesi’s operatic showpiece, a piece that some critics, however, have found inappropriate in a sacred work. No one, however, has found fault with the ensuing soprano aria, “Vidit suum,” which Mary Wilson sang exquisitely, wringing from it every expressive element of pain and tenderness, and bringing it to a plaintive close with a forlorn pianissimo.”
Pergolesi Stabat Mater
AMERICAN BACH SOLOISTS
August 6, 2019 – San Francisco Classical Voice
“Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater Shines in Newly Discovered Arrangement.
Soprano Mary Wilson and baritone William Sharp were the wonderful soloists, alert to the sacred somberness, operatic flourishes, and intimate character of the vocal lines throughout.
Wilson brought a keen, urgent edge to her first aria, with its image of suffering and compassion as a sword. The duet that followed brought the two voices into striking, parallel alignment, heightened by a sudden spurt in tempo at the third stanza. Later on, in a more extensive duet, the soloists built to an embracing intensity and identification with the Virgin: “Make me weep with thee.” The soprano-baritone arrangement, along with the choral interpolations in this account produced both a dramatic tension and sense of spaciousness through the varied and expansive score. Wilson made the falling phrases in one aria (“She saw her sweet offspring dying”) a musical embodiment of the text. A burnished choral Amen brought this distinctive performance to a gratifying end.”
Power of Romanticism and Ressurrection
BACH FESTIVAL SOCIETY OF WINTER PARK
April 29, 2019 – Orlando Sentinel
“Soprano Mary Wilson’s voice angelically floated over the dynamic choir on a lovely “Prayer” passage from Pietro Mascagni’s Cavalleria rusticana.”
Mahler Symphony No. 2
VIRGINIA SYMPHONY
April 26, 2019 – Virginia Gazette
“Adding to the vocal and emotional thrill of this work were mezzo-soprano Susan Platts and soprano Mary Wilson… Wilson regaled us and Mahler with her beautiful pure solo sound as a prelude to choral flourish which also, in combination with Platts, added ethereal beauty. The reaction on the literally thunderous and chilling close to the work was a jack-in-the-box spontaneous jumping up of the crowd. Throughout the 1,700-seat hall, the cheers were athletic-event loud, the applause vigorous and unrestrained (for many, many minutes)… Gloriously justified.”
Pergolesi Stabat Mater
BACH FESTIVAL SOCIETY OF WINTER PARK
March 1, 2019 – Orlando Sentinel
“And the music was lovely. Festival veterans Mary Wilson and Meg Bragle provided the vocals, backed by a perfectly balanced string quintet. Wilson, the soprano, and Bragle, singing mezzo, have a beautiful blend and the kind of psychic link that lets them cut off phrases simultaneously and seemingly effortlessly. They explained they are longtime friends and musical collaborators, as they took questions from the audience on everything from favorite music to life on the road.”
Concert Preview Interview
BOULDER PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA
February 7, 2019 – SharpsAndFlatirons.com
“Soprano Mary Wilson Sings about Childhood with Boulder Philharmonic. Samuel Barber’s Knoxville: Summer of 1915 and Mahler’s Symphony No. 4.” (click here for full article)
R. Strauss Vier letzte Lieder
DELAWARE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
January 29, 2019 – BroadStreetReview
“Amado enlisted acclaimed American soprano Mary Wilson for these iconic songs, a touchstone for singers. Surprisingly, this was Wilson’s first time performing them, something certainly not apparent in her radiant and rich interpretation.
Wilson rose to the vocal and dramatic challenges of this demanding work — not really a soprano solo with accompaniment, but a duet (almost a concerto). …she sang with perfect poise, ever-unfolding depth, and admirable vocal restraint, never attempting to dominate — something that might tempt a lesser artist.”
A Baroque New Year’s Eve at the Opera
AMERICAN BACH SOLOISTS
January 4, 2019 – Berkeley Daily Planet
“Countertenor Aryeh Nussbaum Cohen and soprano Mary Wilson joined American Bach Soloists for a splendid 4:00 pm concert on New Year’s Eve at San Francisco’s Herbst Theatre. Musical Director Jeffrey Thomas announced from the stage that he intends to offer similar concerts every New Year’s Eve. If future such events are anything like this one, Bay Area audiences are indeed fortunate, for this was magnificent.
…soprano Mary Wilson, who needs no introduction to Bay Area audiences who have heard her many wonderful performances over the years with Jeffrey Thomas’s American Bach Soloists, brought her refreshingly bright, gleaming tone to this concert’s selection of soprano arias from George Frideric Handel.
Likewise, Mary Wilson offered splendid coloratura in her first aria, “Da tempeste il legno infranto” from Handel’s Giulio Cesare in Egitto.
Another highlight was Mary Wilson singing the immensely sorrowful lament “Lascia ch’io piangere mia cruda sorte.” A final bright-hued duet brought this wonderful New Year’s Eve concert to a happy ending. What a splendid way to bring in the New Year!”
A Baroque New Year’s Eve at the Opera
AMERICAN BACH SOLOISTS
January 2, 2019 – San Francisco Classical Voice
“The program, which centered on Handel arias and duets, was a showcase for the vocal splendors of soprano Mary Wilson and countertenor Aryeh Nussbaum Cohen. …both singers dazzled.
Wilson joined Cohen for the achingly tender “Io t’abbraccio” (I embrace you), a farewell embrace. Their two high voices joined in splendid parallel and transversing lines. It felt at once ethereal and nakedly exposed. Their body language reinforced the vocal mastery, the lovers exchanging wistful glances, then turning away as the fates and Handel gradually unwound the embrace.
Wilson took the stage alone for the famous — and famously repurposed — aria, here lyricized in Handel’s Rinaldo as “Lascia ch’io pianga mia cruda sorte” (Let me weep over my cruel fate). Wilson made the most of reprises, enlarging this softly murmurous piece with flares of ornamentation that never felt showy for their own sake. A quiet fire burned beneath the piece’s melodic placidity.”
