Baritone Hunter Phillips made his LA Opera debut as the Servant of the Doge in The Two Foscari and returned as the Official Registrar in Madame Butterfly later in the season. Originally from Los Angeles, he first pursued a degree in law at Boston University where he sang in productions of The Magic Flute, The Barber of Seville and Lucia di Lammermoor. After receiving his J.D. and passing the California Bar Exam, he decided to pursue opera full time. He was a regional semi-finalist in the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions. In 2012, he performed in the LA Opera/Getty Center collaboration Émigrés and Experimentalists. He will make his debut with the Aspen Music Festival in the summer of 2013 as Marco in Gianni Schicchi.