Emily D Skilling

Dr. Emily Skilling enjoys a dynamic career spanning opera, concert performance, choral music, and teaching. She currently serves as Lecturer of Voice and Voice Area Coordinator at the University of North Carolina Wilmington, where she teaches classical voice, diction, weekly vocal masterclasses, and opera workshop.

Praised for her “dark amaretto-flavored voice” (Brooklyn Discovery) and her “eloquence” and “tonal beauty” (San Francisco Chronicle), Dr. Skilling has appeared as a soloist with esteemed organizations including the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, Chattanooga Symphony, Spoleto Festival USA, Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, Berkeley Orchestra, and the American Bach Soloists Academy. Operatic highlights include Dido in Dido and Aeneas, Dame Quickly in Falstaff, Madame de Croissy in Dialogues des Carmélites, Mary in Der fliegende Holländer, and Ulrica in Un ballo in maschera.

Her notable concert repertoire includes recurring performances of 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. She is featured as the soloist on Georgia State University’s 2023 recording of Duruflé’s Requiem, released by Gothic Records.

An accomplished choral artist, Dr. Skilling performs with Seraphic Fire, Philadelphia Symphonic Choir, Kinnara Ensemble, Orpheus Chamber Singers, Transept, and Voices Ensemble. She has also sung with renowned orchestras such as the Berlin Philharmonic, New York Philharmonic, and Philadelphia Orchestra at venues including Carnegie Hall, David Geffen Hall, and the Kimmel Center.

In addition to her stage and teaching work, Dr. Skilling appears in Netflix’s Academy Award–nominated film Maestro, both on screen and on its GRAMMY-winning soundtrack.

Education

D.M.A. in Voice Literature and Performance, Eastman School of Music
M.M. in Voice Pedagogy and Performance, Westminster Choir College
B.M. in Voice Performance, University of Georgia

Honors & Awards

Winner of the Teaching Assistantship Prize of Applied Lessons at Eastman School of Music, given to two graduate assistants each year.
Recipient of the Ann Matthews Purdy Part-Time Teaching Award at the University of North Georgia, given to one faculty member at the university each year.