Philippe Sly

French-Canadian bass-baritone Philippe Sly has gained international recognition for his »beautiful, blooming tone and magnetic stage presence« (»San Francisco Chronicle«). Mr. Sly is the first prize winner of the prestigious Concours Musical International de Montréal, a grand prize winner of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, and was awarded Concert of the Year in Romantic, Post-Romantic and Impressionist Music at the 16th annual ceremony of the Gala des prix Opus. Additionally he returns to the Paris Opera (Garnier) for productions of »Don Giovanni« and »Così fan tutte« as well as performances of Schubert’s »Winterreise« with Le Chimera Project. In the 2018-2019 season, Philippe Sly returned to the Paris Opera for his first performances of Leporello in a new production of »Don Giovanni« conducted by Philippe Jordan. He was heard in Handel’s »Messiah« with the Philadelphia Orchestra conducted by Yannick Nézet-Séguin and with the Handel & Haydn Society conducted by Bernard Labadie. Additional concert engagements included Haydn’s »Lord Nelson Mass« and Mozart’s »Requiem« with Orchestra of St. Luke’s and Labadie, as well as Bach »Matthäus-Passion« with the National Arts Centre in Ottawa. He has been heard with the OSM in Debussy’s »Pelléas et Melisande« as Golaud, Honegger’s »L’Aiglon« (recorded for commercial release), Bach’s »Johannes-Passion«, Méphistophélès in Berlioz’s »La damnation de Faust«, and Nielsen’s Symphony No. 3, as well as songs of Rachmaninoff, Grieg, and Sibelius. As a soloist with Yannick Nézet-Séguin, he has sung performances of Mozart’s Mass in C Minor and Bach’s »Matthäus-Passion«, both with the Philadelphia Orchestra, and Bach’s »Matthäus-Passion« again with Orchestre Métropolitain in Montreal. He is featured as Antonio in a recording of »Le nozze di Figaro« with Nézet-Séguin at the Baden- Baden Festival on Deutsche Grammophon. Philippe has performed Narbal in Berlioz’s »Les Troyens« with Orchestre Philharmonique de Strasbourg under John Nelson, which won a Grammy Award (Warner/Erato). He made his Los Angeles Philharmonic debut as Guglielmo in »Così fan tutte« under Gustavo Dudamel in a production by Christopher Alden, his Philadelphia Orchestra debut in Fauré’s »Requiem« conducted by Alain Altinglou, Minnesota Orchestra debut in Fauré’s »Requiem« conducted by Bernard Labadie, and Dallas Symphony debut in Bach’s »Matthäus-Passion« with Jaap van Zweden. Additional concert engagements have included Handel’s »Messiah« with the Toronto Symphony, Montreal Symphony, Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra, and at the National Arts Centre; Handel’s »Solomon« with Bernard Labadie and Violons du Roy; concerts of Fauré, Handel, and Haydn with Orchestre Symphonique de Québec; a concert of arias with the Malaysian Philharmonic; and Mozart’s »Requiem« and Mozart arias with the Toronto Symphony and Labadie. On the opera stage, Philippe Sly debuted at the Paris Opera in a new production of »Così fan tutte« as Guglielmo conducted by Philippe Jordan, followed by Zebul in Claus Guth’s new production of »Jephtha« conducted by William Christie. He also debuted at Festival d’Aix-en-Provence and Opéra de Lyon as the title role in new productions of »Don Giovanni«. He debuted at the Hamburg Opera in fully-staged performances of Bach’s »Matthäus-Passion« in a Romeo Castellucci production which was broadcast across Europe and was seen at Opéra Comique in Boesmann’s Au monde. Mr. Sly was a member of the prestigious Adler Fellowship Program at the San Francisco Opera where he made his mainstage debut as Guglielmo in »Così fan tutte« conducted by Nicola Luisotti. He has also been seen in San Francisco as Ormonte in Christopher Alden’s award-winning production of Handel’s Partenope and as Figaro in »Le nozze di Figaro«. Mr. Sly made his Glyndebourne debut as Claudio in a new production of Berlioz’s »Béatrice et Bénédict« directed by Laurent Pelly. Mr. Sly holds a Bachelor of Music degree in voice performance from McGill University’s Schulich School of Music in Montreal. After winning the MET National Council Auditions, Mr. Sly became a member of the ensemble at the Canadian Opera Company, followed by the San Francisco Opera’s Merola Program and Adler Fellowship. Mr. Sly’s solo recordings are available on Analekta Records.