WEDNESDAY 22 APRIL 2026
At 12.00 noon [AEST]
on Wednesday 22 April 2026
in a zoom from the USA
F. Peter Phillips
will give a talk on
Performing Wagner: A Singer’s Perspective on the Major Tenor Roles
which he co-authored with American Heldentenor Stephen Gould
$12 AUD
When you register for this online talk,
you will receive the zoom link
in the ‘message from the host’
in your confirmation email.
Later, we will forward a link to the talk
to all those who registered,
so even if you were unable to participate in the LIVE talk,
you will be able to view it at your convenience.
ABOUT F. PETER PHILLIPS
F. Peter Phillips is an attorney practising in the New York City area. His practice is limited to service as a commercial mediator or arbitrator. He is also the Director of the Alternative Dispute Resolution Skills Program at New York Law School. A former actor, Peter trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in 1973-76, and acted and directed on and off Broadway, in regional theatres and television.
He currently serves as President of the Richard Wagner Society of New York, the largest such organisation in North America, which is approaching its 49th season. Peter is the author, with the late heldentenor Stephen Gould, of Performing Wagner: A Singer’s Perspective on the Major Tenor Roles. He is a cum laude graduate of Dartmouth College and a magna cum laude graduate of New York Law School. His wife, actor Elaine Bromka, and he are the proud parents of attorney Peter B Phillips and author Julia Phillips, both of New York City, and proud grandparents of five young children.
ABOUT THE TALK
Peter will speak about the book Performing Wagner: A Singer’s Perspective on the Major Tenor Roles which resulted from Zoom conversations between the internationally renowned American Heldentenor Stephen Gould and himself during the COVID 19 pandemic. At the time of his early death in autumn 2023, Stephen Gould was putting the finishing touches to this unusual book, where he shares his unique insights into Wagner’s major tenor roles: Tannhäuser, Tristan, Siegfried, Siegmund and Loge in The Ring of the Nibelung, Lohengrin, Erik in The Flying Dutchman and Parsifal.
Published in 2024, Performing Wagner studies each of the iconic Wagnerian heldentenor roles from the unique perspective of the performer. Stephen Gould studied and acted them hundreds of times in scores of productions around the world prior to his passing in 2023. In this thoughtful book, he offers insights to building a character, understanding the dramatic arc of each role, analysing each scene for cogency and dramatic structure, and finding the clues embedded in the music and the words. His intelligence and eloquence offer perspectives that only a performer can experience.
The book is unique in opera literature. Neither a memoir nor a musical analysis, Performing Wagner is a practical guide to preparing for, and performing, these roles. Stephen Gould hoped to share his experiences with enthusiasts of Wagner’s works, as well as opera audiences more generally who seek to learn what singing actors do in performance. It is invaluable to young artists approaching this repertoire and to scholars studying Wagner’s dramaturgy. More broadly, this volume speaks to the condition of every opera fan who has ever been floored by a great performance and wondered, ‘how did they do that?’ A chapter is devoted to each role, and a foreword is provided by Katharina Wagner, the composer’s great-granddaughter and Director of the Wagner Festival in Bayreuth, Germany.