Molly Fillmore began her teaching career while working on her Master of Music degree at the University of Maryland at College Park. She taught private lessons at the National Cathedral School for Girls and St. Alban's School for Boys in Washington, D.C. In 2004, she was named Assistant Professor of Voice at Michigan State University, eventually earning tenure and promotion to Associate Professor of Voice. During this time, she began singing dramatic soprano roles, and made her Metropolitan Opera debut.
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In 2014, she accepted a position as Professor of Voice at the University of North Texas, one of the nation's largest and most dynamic Colleges of Music. She regularly gives master classes and has adjudicated many voice competitions. In the summer of 2016, The Fillmore Studio presented staged productions of Die Zauberflöte and Dido and Aeneas. Molly Fillmore also organizes summer aria workshops for studio members preparing for auditions. Current and alumni student news and events can be found on the Facebook page "The Fillmore Voice Studio."
Studio & Directing
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“Fillmore's stunning range is explored alongside the very agile keys...gentle moments are met with fascinating vocal acrobatics from Fillmore that are as consistent as they are stirring” - Take Effect
Molly Fillmore's experience in professionally singing both lyric mezzo-soprano and dramatic soprano repertoire, successfully transitioning between both, gives her a unique perspective on maintaining a healthy technique as one adjusts to demands of varying tessituras and orchestral intensity.
She began her professional teaching career while pursuing her Master's Degree at the University of Maryland. She taught private voice lessons both at the National Cathedral School and St. Alban's School in Washington, D.C.
In 2004, she was named Assistant Professor of Voice at Michigan State University, eventually earning tenure and promotion to Associate Professor of Voice. During this time, she began singing dramatic soprano roles, and made her Metropolitan Opera debut.
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In 2014, she accepted a position and promotion to Professor of Voice at the University of North Texas, the largest public university music program in the United States and one of the most globally respected. Since 2017, she has also been Chair of the Division of Vocal Studies at UNT, combining her teaching with administrative tasks including: supervision of faculty, teaching fellows and teaching assistants, curricular updates, improving efficacy of protocols, and generally optimizing the workplace environment for faculty and the educational experience for students.
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Some recent studio member successes include faculty appointments (University of Oregon and Iowa State University), multiple adjunct faculty appointments, professional work (Dallas Opera, Fort Worth Opera, Florida Grand Opera, Seattle Opera, Eugene Opera) and acceptances into major young artist programs (Florida Grand Opera, Sarasota Opera), summer programs (Seagle Festival, Opera in the Ozarks, Opera NEO), and renowned graduate schools.
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Molly Fillmore has given over thirty master classes at universities and high schools around the United States, and in multiple locations in China. She has been an adjudicator for over twelve voice competitions as well.
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Her teaching philosophy is based on the belief that every student brings their own individual set of vocal and general life experiences to the process, and therefore, rather than asking a student to conform to a specific technique, she adapts her teaching to: 1) the technical needs of the student, 2) their singing goals, and 3) the way in which they learn well. She believes that every classical singer deserves a technique that allows them to sing evenly and beautifully throughout the range, without concerns regarding ease of production, consistently singing a particular part of the range well, agility, etc. She also believes that the timbre of the student's voice should not be conformed into a 'standard' and that it should maintain and foster its own unique colors.
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Molly Fillmore has also been the stage director and/or producer for several opera productions. This began as a project of providing her studio members with more performance opportunities, and she has thereby produced 6 opera productions since beginning her tenure at the University of North Texas. Additionally, she has twice directed productions for Central Florida Lyric Opera (The Magic Flute and Carmen in which she also sang the role of Micaela).​ ​
For online lesson inquiries, click here.
