Molly Fillmore

Described by Gramophone as “a compelling interpreter”, Molly Fillmore made her Metropolitan Opera debut as Helmwige in their production of Der Ring der Nibelungen.   She returned to the Met to sing a principal role in Satyagraha by Philip Glass. Both of these productions were shown live in movie theaters around the world as part of the Met’s Live in HD series as well as on PBS stations nationwide as part of their Great Performances series. She can be heard and seen on the Grammy-winning Deutsche Grammophon recording of Die Walküre from The Metropolitan Opera, as well as on the recordings of the Met’s production of Satyagraha.  

Her album, Bold Beauty – Songs of Juliana Hall, with faculty colleague Elvia Puccinelli, features a song cycle (Cameos) for which Ms. Fillmore wrote the poems, called “vivid glances” by Gramophone.  The recording earned a designation of “Critic’s Choice” in the March 2022 issue of Opera News. Her second album, Let us the fleeting hours enjoy!, was released in early 2026 on the Navona label and contains musical works from Regency-era England.  Collaborators on that album include fellow UNT faculty and two of her former studio members.  

Molly Fillmore made her soprano debut in the title role of Salome at San Francisco Opera. Other American opera appearances as a soloist include Seattle Opera, Spoleto Festival, and Washington National Opera.  She made her role debut as Marietta/Marie in Die tote Stadt with Theater St. Gallen, Switzerland and sang the title roles in Turandot and Tosca with the University of North Texas Symphony.   

Before her switch to dramatic soprano repertoire, Molly Fillmore had an international career as a mezzo-soprano, including five seasons as a principal soloist in the ensemble of Oper der Stadt Köln (Cologne Opera), where she appeared in over twenty roles.  

On the concert stage, Molly Fillmore has appeared as a soloist in an operatic concert with the Boston Symphony Orchestra at Tanglewood, the Detroit Symphony, Utah Symphony, Choral Arts Society of Washington, at Carnegie Hall, Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center, the Interlochen Arts Festival, Great Lakes Chamber Festival, and on DeustchlandFunk Radio. Molly Fillmore has sung Samuel Barber’s Knoxville: Summer of 1915 and the Bachianas Brasileiras of Villa-Lobos multiple times, and she has sung both the soprano and mezzo-soprano parts of a favorite work, the Verdi Requiem, several times on professional stages. 

Molly Fillmore made her solo operatic debut with the Washington National Opera at the Kennedy Center Opera House while a junior at American University. By the time she had completed her Master of Music degree, she had appeared in seven solo roles (including a leading role in the zarzuela El Gato Montes) with the Washington National Opera and as a soloist in numerous concerts at the Kennedy Center Concert Hall. 

A native of northeast Ohio, she graduated magna cum laude with a B.A. in music from American University and holds a Master of Music degree from The University of Maryland.   She taught voice at Michigan State University for ten years and, in 2014, joined the faculty at the University of North Texas, where she holds the position of Professor of Voice and Chair of the Division of Vocal Studies.