Praised for her “dark amaretto-flavored voice” (Brooklyn Discovery) and her “eloquence” and “tonal beauty” (San Francisco Chronicle), mezzo-soprano Emily Skilling enjoys a versatile career spanning opera, concert work, choral music, and teaching.
Professional opera role credits include: Mary in Wagner’s Der fliegende Holländer (Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra), Myrtale in Massenet’s Thaïs (Spoleto Festival USA), Dido in Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas (Music in the Somerset Hills and The Sebastians Orchestra), Countess Ceprano in Verdi’s Rigoletto (Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra), Dame Quickly in Verdi’s Falstaff (Martina Arroyo’s Prelude to Performance), Ulrica in Verdi’s Un ballo in Maschera (Boheme Opera New Jersey), Euterpe in Handel’s Parnasso in festa (American Bach Soloists Academy), Third Lady in Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte (The CoOPERAtive Program), and Barcarolle in The Bremen Town Musicians (Opera on the James). Additional roles include Madame de Croissy in Poulenc’s Dialogues des Carmélites (Eastman Opera Theatre), Bradamante in Handel’s Alcina (Eastman Opera Theatre), La Zia Principessa in Puccini’s Suor Angelica (Westminster Opera Theater), Háta in Smetana’s The Bartered Bride (Westminster Opera Theater), Dame Quickly in Verdi’s Falstaff (Westminster Opera Theater), and La Tasse Chinoise in Ravel’s L’Enfant et les Sortilèges (Westminster Opera Theater).
As a concert soloist, Emily has performed with the Chattanooga Symphony & Opera (Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9), the Spoleto Festival USA (Bach’s Mass in B Minor), Eastman Philharmonia (Elgar’s The Music Makers), Messiah University (Handel’s Messiah), Berkeley Community Chorus and Orchestra (Mendelssohn’s Elijah and Prokofiev’s Alexander Nevsky), and the American Bach Soloists Academy (Bach’s Mass in B Minor), among many others. She also covered Stephanie Blythe in Mahler’s Symphony No. 8 with the Philadelphia Orchestra. Notable recurring concert engagements include Handel’s Messiah, Duruflé’s Requiem, Bach’s Mass in B Minor, Mozart’s Requiem, Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9, Vaughan Williams’ Serenade to Music, Corigliano’s Fern Hill, and Mendelssohn’s Elijah. Emily is featured as the soloist on the Georgia State University recording of Duruflé’s Requiem, released by Gothic Records in 2023. Additionally, Emily has extensive choral experience, having sung with ensembles such as Seraphic Fire, the Philadelphia Symphonic Choir, Kinnara Ensemble, Orpheus Chamber Singers, Transept Ensemble, Spoleto Festival USA Chorus, Voices Ensemble, Cecilia Ensemble, Princeton Festival Chorus, UGA Hodgson Singers, and the world-renowned Westminster Choir.
Dr. Skilling previously served on the voice faculty at the University of North Georgia and currently serves as Lecturer of Voice and the Voice Area Coordinator at the University of North Carolina Wilmington. She holds a Bachelor of Music from the University of Georgia, a Master of Music from Westminster Choir College, and a Doctor of Musical Arts from Eastman School of Music. Emily appears in Netflix’s Academy Award-nominated film Maestro and is also on its GRAMMY-winning soundtrack. In 2026, she looks forward to singing the role of La Zia Principessa in Opera Wilmington’s production of Suor Angelica.