Ann Marie McPhail, a seasoned performer and Atlanta native, has established herself as a versatile lyric soprano. She received a BM in Music Education from Clark Atlanta University, a MM in Voice Performance from Georgia State University and is pursuing a DMA in Voice Performance at The University of Southern Mississippi.
Ms. McPhail made her career debut as the Countess with the Houston Ebony Opera, in Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro and portrayed the “Diva Goddess” in the 1996 Centennial Olympic Games, Closing Ceremonies.
For Tyler Perry’s For Colored Girls, she is seen onstage singing at the opera. She has also portrayed Strawberry Woman in Gershwin’s, Porgy and Bess while touring with the Atlanta Opera, for which she received honorable mention in Opera News.
In 2019, under the baton of Maestro Charles Dickerson, she was soprano soloist in the premiere of Bill Banfield’s Shine Symphony at the NANM 100th Convention in Chicago, Illinois. In 2020 she was guest soloist for the Atlanta Ballet’s premiere of “Sunrise Divine” by renown Choreographer Dwight Rhoden and composer Dr. Kevin Johnson of the Spelman College Glee Club.
She is a past winner of the Madame Rose, American Traditions and the Pro-Mozart Society of Atlanta Competition where she received stipend and entry to the Mozarteum International Summer Academy in Austria, Vienna in 2022.
Ms. McPhail has served as lecturer and artist affiliate at Clark Atlanta University, Spelman College, Agnes Scott College, Talladega College and Grambling State University. She has sung with the San Francisco Opera, Paris Comique Opera, Atlanta Opera, Houston Ebony Opera, Opera Ebony, Macon Symphony Orchestra, Atlanta Chambers Players and the Savannah Philharmonic Orchestra.
She is currently a staff singer at St. John’s Episcopal Church in Laurel, Mississippi, and a board member of the Atlanta Chamber Players.
She will be in concert with the Savannah Philharmonic Orchestra in 2023 to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the American Traditions Competition.
While she excels in singing classical music, she is supremely skillful in her heart-rending interpretations of the negro spiritual.
Ann Marie with international renown soprano Grace Melzia Bumbry