Dr. Phillip Harris
President

Phillip Harris has a diverse background in vocal music as a performer and teacher in classical, musical theater, gospel, and rhythm & blues. 

He has performed at Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, and with the San Francisco Symphony, Reno Chamber Orchestra, Aspen Symphonic Wind Ensemble, Pocket Opera, Mountain Play, Island City Opera,Opera Las Vegas, and the San Francisco Opera (Chorus). Recordings include Phillip Harris in Recital with Damien Sneed featuring art songs, arias, spirituals, gospel, and musical theater repertoire in addition to an EP of original music, In My Philz.

Dr. Harris has present or former teaching affiliations with Convent & Stuart Hall, San Francisco Conservatory of Music Pre-College, San Francisco Conservatory of Music, San Francisco Girls Chorus, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, West Valley College, Head-Royce School, Menlo School, YMTC, MoonSchool at 42nd Street Moon. 

An avid researcher and performer on the classical songs of black composers, he has given lectures on the topic at Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University, Westminster Choir College, University of California, Santa Cruz, Alabama State University, and San Francisco City College. His students have graduated from Boston Conservatory at Berklee and placed in national, regional, and local competitions with NATS. Other students have placed in Elite International Music Competition, American Protégé International Vocal Competition, and the Junior Bach Festival. Other students attend Oberlin Conservatory, Interlochen, Boston University Tanglewood Institute, MPulse at University of Michigan, Stagedoor Manor, and UCLA Summer Musical Theater Program, and Vocal Academy at San Francisco Conservatory of Music.

Phillip earned voice degrees from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (Doctor of Musical Arts), the University of Michigan (Master of Music), and the University of California, Irvine (Bachelor of Music). He previously served as Co-VP of Student Auditions for SFBAC-NATS. 

More information at www.philliplnharris.com

Mary Evelyn Hangley
co-Vice President of Programs

A first year Adler Fellow with San Francisco Opera, Mary Evelyn Hangley was praised for her “stunning dynamic range and control”.  Soprano Hangley has been featured on the stages of The Glimmerglass Festival, Minnesota Opera, and the War Memorial Opera House in San Francisco.  Most recently, she performed the role of Anna Sørensen in Kevin Put’s Silent Night at The Glimmerglass Festival. During her two years as a Resident Artist with Minnesota Opera, Hangley sang leading roles for the company, including Musetta in La bohème, Woglinde in Das Rheingold, and Contessa Almaviva in Le nozze di Figaro.  In addition to numerous comprimario roles, Hanley covered Freia in Das Rheingold, Millicent Jordan in the world premiere of Bolcolm’s Dinner at Eight and the title role in Massenet’s Thaïs.  She has participated in many of the country’s leading young artist programs, including Minnesota Opera, The Glimmerglass Festival and The Merola Opera Program. While at the Merola Opera Program, Hangley was praised by Opera News for singing “…with considerable allure” when taking over for an ill colleague mid performance of Conrad Susa’s Transformations.  In concert, Hanley has sung Mendelssohn’s Elijah, Mozart’s Mass in C minor, Saint-Saëns’ Christmas Oratorio, Schubert’s Mass in C major and will be the soprano soloist in the Verdi Requiem at SUNY Fredonia in Spring 2019.

dr. karine st-pierre

co-vice president of programs

Montreal-born soprano Karine St-Pierre completed a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Voice Performance and Vocal Pedagogy at the University of Toronto. She holds a Master of Music degree in Voice Performance and Vocal Pedagogy from the University of Toronto and a Bachelor of Music degree from the Université de Montréal.

Ms. St-Pierre has performed opera and operetta roles, including the roles of Ilia (Idomeneo, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart), Annina (La Traviata, Giuseppe Verdi), Bella (Paganini, Franz Lehar), Stella (La fille du tambour major, Jacques Offenbach), Gabrielle (La Vie Parisienne, Jacques Offenbach), Fleurette/Hermia (Barbe-Bleue, Jacques Offenbach), Princess Stasi (Princesse Czardas, Emmerich Kálmán), Huguette (Pas sur la bouche…, Maurice Yvain), and Délicia (Madame, Henri Christiné). She has sung recitals in Canada, the United States, and France. In 2019, she performed a recital of French mélodie and French Canadian repertoire with pianist Daniel Lockert as part of the Sausalito Song Society Concerts in California. Ms. St-Pierre has premiered the cycle “Quatre mélodies québécoises” by Matthew De Lacey Davidson in Toronto.

Ms. St-Pierre has adjudicated several music festivals and voice competitions, she has presided over the San Francisco Bay Area Chapter of the National Association of Teachers of Singing, and she has developed a guide to the interpretation of nineteenth-century French Canadian songs for voice and piano.