Soprano Roberta Philip on cat-walking for London Fashion Week, learning from models, and her upcoming recital at the London Festival of American Music

Roberta Philip [Photo: Ben Reason]

Soprano Roberta Philip is a versatile performer working across opera and jazz idioms in settings ranging from the cat walk to the concert platform. She is passionate about bringing lesser-known works by African American composers into the spotlight and has been praised for her “powerfully expressive” (The Opera Critic) and “outstanding voice” (The Stage).

Roberta performs with pianist Valentina Wang at the London Festival of American Music at The Warehouse on 11 November 2027.

What inspired you to become an Opera singer?

I grew up in a naturally musical family. My family would often burst into song at home, and my Nana, who is now 99, is infamous for having a hymn for every situation – big or small. My parents didn’t have the opportunity to learn instruments themselves, so they made sure my siblings and I did. I studied classical piano and violin, but singing initially remained something I did for fun, whether that was singing pop and R&B at home, musical theatre groups or singing in small jazz bands and choirs.

It was actually at the University of Birmingham that I began to see singing as something more. I auditioned for the Birmingham University Singers Chamber Choir, led by Simon Halsey, singing ‘Memory’ from Cats (one of the only remotely “classical” pieces I knew). I was accepted and went on to sing with the choir throughout the year. Through Halsey’s involvement with the BBC Proms Youth Choir, I also found myself singing in the chorus of Elgar’s The Dream of Gerontius at my first BBC Proms.

Watching Roderick Williams, one of the soloists, sing with the orchestra at our first Royal Albert Hall rehearsal gave me chills. He was the first Black opera singer I had ever seen, and I remember thinking that this was what I wanted to do. The following year, the chamber choir audition panel encouraged me to take singing lessons, recognising my innate musicality. By the time I graduated, singing had become my principal study.

When I graduated, I began a full-time career in performing arts PR and had private singing lessons, sung with the London Symphony Chorus and used all my annual leave to do summer vocal development programmes.

A few years later, I went on to train at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama, where I completed my Master of Performance. My teacher, John Evans, was instrumental in transforming my voice and helping me recognise my versatility across genres as one of my greatest artistic strengths, showing me how it could inform and enrich my classical singing. Although my training has been rooted in classical music, my love of jazz and soul remains a fundamental part of who I am musically, and continues to influence the way that I approach performance.

In 2024 you performed at London Fashion Week. Are there parallels to be drawn between fashion and music?

In 2024, I was selected as one of a handful of Guildhall students to perform in British designer Patrick McDowell’s Orpheus Ball showcase for London Fashion Week. The collection explored the structures of orchestral music through fashion.

I performed Gershwin’s The Man I Love with my colleague Elizabeth Mwale on euphonium. We were the only musicians dressed in the collection, and we walked the catwalk whilst performing; a surprise twist within the show. I’m not a model, so it was a completely new experience, but I loved seeing how fashion and music could work together.

Through this show, I discovered a key parallel between opera and fashion. In opera, costume can be so much more than something you wear, it helps you inhabit a character and draws you into the narrative world. In the showcase, once wearing Patrick’s collection, I observed the very same transformation in the models, and experienced it myself.

You regularly collaborate with Pegasus Opera Company. What impact has this company had on your development as an artist?

Pegasus Opera Company has played a pivotal role in my development. I joined its mentoring programme in 2023–24, and had several opportunities to perform for industry professionals and connect with key organisations.

Pegasus also cast me in my first professional opera production, Ruth by Philip Hagemann, where I played the Narrator and covered the lead role of Orpah. In fact, I ended up performing both my own role and the role I was covering in every performance, which was an extraordinary learning experience and a significant step in my professional development.

My relationship with Pegasus has continued beyond that production, and I regularly perform in concert tours. Alison Buchanan, Artistic Director, has also been a huge mentor to me. What I value particularly is the way Pegasus has helped create opportunities while encouraging a broader and more representative operatic landscape. That connects closely with my own interests as an artist.

Your recital programme for the London Festival of American Music features music by William Grant Still, Gershwin and Florence Price, amongst others. How have you gone about putting this together?

I’m thrilled to be making my London Festival of American Music debut with a programme that explores the extraordinary breadth and evolution of African American music. I want to celebrate the richness of this repertoire, bring lesser-known works into the spotlight, and share the many different stories and musical traditions it encompasses.

One composer I’m particularly excited to feature is Brittney Boykin. I was introduced to her work during my time at Guildhall, where I discovered her song cycle Moments in Sonder, which sets poetry by Maya Angelou, one of my favourite poets. I contacted Brittney over email, and I was incredibly grateful that Guildhall purchased the collection for me to include in my Master of Performance final recital. It’s wonderful to be able to continue sharing this music beyond my studies.

For me, my LFAM programme captures a vast musical landscape; from the soulful roots of spirituals, to music shaped by the civil rights movement and the struggle for equality, to songs of unencumbered joy, intimacy and love. I’m passionate about broadening the classical canon and encouraging audiences to discover composers and works they may not know. This recital is an opportunity to celebrate that diversity, whilst showing that African American music cannot be defined by a single style, period or experience.

Roberta performs with pianist Valentina Wang on 11 Nov 2024, 7.30pm at the London Festival of American Music at The Warehouse, Waterloo.

Florence Price: Night, Hold Fast to Dreams, Travel’s End , Sympathy
Brittney Boykin: Moments in Sonder
George Gershwin: ‘Summertime’ from Porgy and Bess
Undine Smith Moore: I am in Doubt, I Want to Die while you Love Me, Lyric for True Love
​William Grant Still: ‘Give me no Body without your Soul’ from Blue Steel, Grief
Margaret Bonds: Three Dream Portraits
George Walker: I Got a Letter from Jesus, Ev’ry Time I Feel de Spirit
Moses Hogan: Were you There?
Hall Johnson: Ride on King Jesus