Philip David Zawisza, baritone

Born in Michigan, Philip Zawisza completed his Master’s Degree in 1989 at Indiana University with Carlos Montane and Nicola Rossi-Lemeni. Following apprenticeships with the Santa Fe Opera and the Lyric Opera of Chicago, in 1992, Mr. Zawisza was a MET finalist, won the Baltimore Opera Competition and Munich’s Radio-Symphony Voice Contest.
In the US, Philip sang with Carlo Bergonzi in Donizetti’s “L’Elisir d’Amore” in 1993 in Baltimore. On PBS with the Lyric Opera of Chicago he can be seen as Eros in Barber’s “Antony and Cleopatra” and has recorded on New World, Hugo Weisgall’s “Six Characters in search of an Author.” With the Wolftrap Opera Philip sang Don Giovanni. He was awarded the Marion Anderson Prize which led to his Radio debut in New York City. Philip replaced Herman Prey in
1997 for Schubert’s “Schwanengesang” with Martin Katz at the University of Michigan. A recent
TV broadcast of Robert Aldridge’s, “The Parables” aired on TPT in Minnesota featuring
Zawisza at the University of Minnesota.

Winner of the 1995 Arnold Peterson Prize, Zawisza began his European career at the National Theater in Mannheim as a leading baritone for five seasons. Notable successes were Germont, Enrico Ashton, Wolfram von Eschenbach, Posa de Marquis, Marcello, Escamillo and Sharpless. Austrians would know Philip for his interpretations of Rossini’s Figaro, Guglielmo, Papageno, Danilo, Dr. Malatesta and Graf Homonay. In Switzerland, Zawisza received critical acclaim for his debuts as Carlo Gerard in “Andrea Chenier”, Golaud in Debussy’s “Pelleas et Melisande” and Athanael in Massenet’s “Thais”.

In 2004, Mr. Zawisza rescued a performance with Vienna’s Radio-Symphony Orchestra conducted by Simone Young, singing the title role of William Walton’s The Bear. He premiered Blarr’s “Jerusalem Symphony with Jun Merkl and sang Orff’s “Carmina Burana” and de Falla’s “Atlantida with Migel Gomez-Martinez. Philip has sung diverse repertoire from Bach to Bernstein with the Radio-Symphony Orchestras of Nuremberg, Frankfurt, Koblenz, Mannheim, Munich, Salzburg, Frankfurt, Madrid and Vienna.

In 2006-7, Zawisza premiered in Vienna, Mozart’s “L’oca del cairo” as Don Pippo, Gil in
”Il Segreto di Susanna” and Claudio in Handels’ “Agrippina”. At Gars am Camp Zawisza starred as Nabucco at their outdoor arena festival.

Zawisza debuted with the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra in Berlioz’s, “ L’Enfance du Christ”. Philip sang at Carnegie Hall for”Harmony for Peace” in 2010. In 2012 he guested in Detmold, Germany with U of M, in Britten’s “War Requiem” with Mark Russel Smith. In 2012, Philip sang John Proctor in the Crucible by Robert Ward for the Piedmont Opera in North Carolina.

This December Philip performs “the Messiah” with Augustana Choir in Rock Island,
Illinois and debuts with the Minnesota Orchestra for their Beethoven 9th. Philip performs Carmina Burana and the Brahms Requiem at MacAlester College and the Minnesota Oratorio Society in 2013.

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