Liz Andolina Photography
Emily Skilling, winner of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions South Carolina District, is a second year Doctor of Musical Arts candidate at Eastman School of Music, where she most recently sang the role of Bradamante in Handel’s Alcina. Emily enjoys a varied career in both performing and teaching. Professional role credits include Countess Ceprano in Verdi’s Rigoletto (Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra), Ulrica in Un ballo in Maschera (Boheme Opera New Jersey), Dame Quickly in Falstaff (Martina Arroyo’s Prelude to Performance), Third Lady in Die Zauberflöte (The CoOPERAtive Program), and Barcarolle in The Bremen Town Musicians (Opera on the James). In recent years, she has performed as a soloist with the American Bach Soloists Academy (Bach’s Mass in B Minor), Messiah University (Handel’s Messiah), Berkeley Community Chorus and Orchestra (Mendelssohn’s Elijah and Prokofiev’s Alexander Nevsky), Peachtree Rd United Methodist Church Atlanta (Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9), and Georgia State University (Duruflé’s Requiem). Additionally, Emily has extensive choral experience, having performed with the Philadelphia Symphonic Choir, Kinnara Ensemble, Orpheus Chamber Singers, Transept Ensemble, and the world-renowned Westminster Choir. Ms. Skilling formerly served on the voice faculty at the University of North Georgia and currently teaches Primary and Secondary Applied Voice at Eastman School of Music. Emily holds a Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Georgia and a Master of Music degree from Westminster Choir College, where she studied with Laura Brooks Rice. Georgia State University’s recently released recording of Duruflé’s Requiem features Emily as the soloist. She looks forward to making her Chattanooga Symphony & Opera debut as the mezzo-soprano soloist in Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 in the spring of 2024.