Soprano Jessica McCormack, from New Brunswick, Canada holds a Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Toronto and a Master of Music degree from Southern Methodist University where she was a student of Joan Heller and graduated with the Opera Theatre Honors Award. She is currently pursuing a Doctorate of Musical Arts in vocal performance with a minor in opera at the University of North Texas where she studies with Dr. Lynn Eustis.  Jessica is a teaching fellow at UNT and was recently elected a member of the Pi Kappa Lambda National Music Honors Society.

Last January, she was a soloist featured with Fort Worth Symphony in their “Happy Birthday Mozart!” Celebration Concert. Her operatic roles include: Nannetta in Verdi’s Falstaff, Barbarina in Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro, Tirsi in Handel’s Clori, Tirsi e Fileno and Mabel in Sullivan’s Pirates of Penzance. As an oratorio soloist, she has performed Handel’s Messiah, Schűtz’s Die sieben Worte, Vivaldi’s Gloria, Schubert’s Mass in G and Fauré’s Requiem.

Jessica’s awards include: National Winner of the Canadian Music Competition, and second runner-up at the NATS Texoma Singer of the Year.  She is a scholarship recipient from the Toronto Mendelssohn Foundation, The Women’s Chorus of Dallas, University Women’s Club of Canada, New Brunswick Arts Council, Opera New Brunswick, Oberlin Conservatory, University of Toronto, Southern Methodist University and the University of North Texas.

Jessica enjoys presenting recitals and her latest venues have included: Dallas Museum of Art, Brookhaven College, Meadows Museum, Church-on-the-Hill (Lenox, Ma), Portland United Church (Saint John, New Brunswick) and the Toronto Arts & Letters Club. In November, Jessica performed at the PASIC convention in Austin, Texas where she presented the American premiere of Minoru Miki’s Sohmon III, an extended work for soprano, marimba and piano. Because the performance was so well received, the work will be recorded in May. Chamber music is one of her favorite genres, especially when collaborating with her husband, trumpeter Edward Phillips. Jessica will travel to Washington in March as a soprano soloist at the National Trumpet Competition finals. 

This past summer, Jessica was a member of the music faculty at Belvoir Terrace, a performing arts camp for young women in Lenox, Massachusetts.

Upon graduating, Jessica plans to balance a performing and teaching career. She currently resides in Denton with her husband, Eddie and their cat Cleopatra.