Susanna Phillips

As a young musician, you really want to play.

As many times as I have done 'Marriage of Figaro,' I have never been able to ask Mozart what he intended in this piece.

One of the coolest things Twickenham Fest does is to commission new works.

New music is absolutely integral to classical music.

When you go to a show on opening night, or even the second performance, it is at the very beginning of what it will become. By the end of this run, the show will actually be what it is intended to be.

I applied to a few conservatories. I was sure that I wouldn't get in, and I didn't plan to go to N.Y. But then I got into Juilliard.

It was at Juilliard that I realized that being a singer encompasses so many things that I am interested in. Literature, languages, physics, history, art. You really get to explore so many things.

Sometimes, going to see one opera is hard because you don't know the genre. Good opera is like good wine. There are so many varieties, and it helps to inform you about what you like when you see a lot.

Concert repertoire is some of the most beautiful music ever written, and I frequently seek out opportunities to perform it.

Let's be clear: I love singing at the Met.

The rehearsal process is the most important thing to me, so working with colleagues who are effusive, thoughtful, young and vivacious is really inspiring as a musician.

As a young singer, you have to get experience somehow, to try things out and grow as a singer. They way you do that is by going through the ranks and singing at companies like Opera Birmingham. It's a perfect place to foster a career.