Hila Plitmann
Hilá (Heeláh)
Grammy award-winning soprano Hila Plitmann is a glittering jewel on the international music scene, known worldwide for her astonishing musicianship, light and beautiful voice, and the ability to perform challenging new works. She regularly premieres works by leading composers while maintaining a vibrant and extraordinarily diverse professional life in film music, musical theatre, and song writing.
In recent years Hila has worked with many leading conductors, including Leonard Slatkin, Kurt Masur, Robert Spano, Marin Alsop, Esa Pekka Salonen, Andrew Litton, and Steven Sloane. She has appeared as a headliner with the New York Philharmonic, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Chicago Symphony, the Atlantic Symphony Orchestra, the Minnesota Orchestra, the National Symphony Orchestra, the Israel Philharmonic, the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, and the New Israeli Opera. This season Hila performs Mahler’sSymphony No. 4 and the world premiere of Richard Danielpour’s Darkness in the Ancient Valley with the Nashville Symphony conducted by Giancarlo Guerrero; Beethoven Leonore Overture No. 2 and a Hillborg world premiere conducted by Esa-Pekka Salonen, alongside mezzo-soprano Anne Sofie von Otter and the Los Angeles Philharmonic; and David Del Tredici’s Final Alice with the Detroit Symphony, conducted by Leonard Slatkin. A new recording of Yiddish Songs, The Ancient Question, is available from December 2011 on Signum Classics.
Past seasons highlights include appearances and performances with the Rundfunkchor Berlin, Thomas Adès’ The Tempest Suite,Stravinsky’s Les Noces, the world premiere of Gerard Barry’s The Importance of Being Earnest with the Los Angeles Philharmonic conducted by Thomas Adès, and David Del Tredici’s Final Alice with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra conducted by Leonard Slatkin. Other collaborations include performances of Salonen and Larsen with Orchestra 2001, Bernstein and Golijov with the Seattle Symphony conducted by Joana Carneiro, and the New York premiere of Eric Whitacre’s Paradise Lost: Shadows and Wings at Carnegie Hall.
In constant demand as a singer of new and contemporary music, Hila has appeared as a soloist in several world premieres including Pulitzer Prize winner David Del Tredici’s Paul Revere’s Ride with the Atlanta Symphony, Wing on Wing with the Los Angeles Philharmonic conducted and composed by Esa Pekka Salonen, Mr. Tambourine Man by Oscar and Pulitzer Prize winner John Corigliano with the Minnesota Orchestra, and Two Awakenings and a Double Lullaby, a song cycle written for Hila by Pulitzer Prize winner Aaron Jay Kernis.
Hila premiered the role of Exstasis in Eric Whitacre’s ground-breaking electro-musical Paradise Lost: Shadows and Wings in LA. Hila sang, acted, danced and fought in long martial arts battles nightly for a seven week sold-out run, a tour-de-force performance that prompted Backstage West to call her “brilliant, eliciting strong empathy and singing gorgeously”, and Theatre Mania declared she “fights like a warrior and sings like the angel she portrays.” For her work in the show Hila received nominations for Best Actress in a Musical from the Los Angeles Ovation Awards and The LA Ticketholder Awards.
Hila has accumulated an impressive catalogue of professional recordings, appearing on Decca, Telarc, Naxos, CRI, Reference Recordings and Disney labels. The Da Vinci Code soundtrack (Decca) was a worldwide bestseller, spending several weeks in the Billboard Charts. Both Paul Revere’s Ride (Telarc), and The Da Vinci Code received Grammy nominations, and in 2009 Hila won a Grammy for ‘Best Classical Vocal Performance’ for her work on the Naxos recording of John Corigliano’s song cycle Mr. Tambourine Man with the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra. Hila can also be heard on the soundtrack of the film New York, I Love You.
Born and raised in Jerusalem, Hila received both her Bachelor and Master of Music degrees with high honours from the Julliard School of Music, and has been awarded the coveted Sony ES Prize for her outstanding contribution to vocal arts. Hila currently lives in London with her husband, composer Eric Whitacre, and their son. She has a black belt in Tae Kwon Do.