Phillip Collister is a Professor of Voice/Opera at Towson University where he has been a member of the music faculty since 1998 and serves as the Chairperson of the Department of Music.

 Collister has an extensive background as a conductor and stage director of operas and musicals. He has produced, directed, or conducted numerous operas, musicals, cabarets and revues including (operas) Dido and Aeneas, The Magic Flute, Cosí fan tutte, The Wandering Scholar, The Face on the Barroom Floor, The Stoned Guest, Mahagonny Songspiel, Die Dreigroschenoper, Riders to the Sea, The Medium, The Old Maid and the Thief, A Hand of Bridge, Trouble in Tahiti, Too Many Sopranos, Green Eggs and Ham, Sid the Serpent Who Wanted to Sing, and others, (musicals) Into the Woods, Ragtime: The Musical, Cabaret, Gypsy, A Little Night Music, Godspell, Forever Plaid, Hair, How to Succeed in Business, Little Shop of Horrors, Chicago, Teddy and Alice, The Fantastics & others, (revues & cabarets) Cole, Broadway Bound, Beehive, A Weill Cabaret, It’s Oh So Quiet: Hollywood Composers in Exile, When I Fall in Love, Golden Years: an operetta revue and others. From 2001-2006 Collister was the producing artistic director and music director for the Maryland Arts Festival. From 2001-2003 Collister was the conductor of the opera studio at the Fairbanks Summer Arts Festival. His recent engagements include his directing debut with HUB Opera Ensemble’s production of Carmen, and solo performances with the Bach Sinfonia.

Collister is an active solo singer having performed extensively as a soloist in musical theatre, opera, oratorio, and recital. He recently made his Carnegie Hall debut with Trio Montage performing newly commissioned works. He has performed frequently with the Bach Sinfonia in Washington D.C., the Handel Choir of Baltimore and the Baltimore Opera. He has also performed as a soloist with the Washington Bach Consort, the Maryland Handel Festival & Smithsonian Chamber Players, and internationally at the Handel Festival in Halle, Germany. He maintains an active solo concert schedule that has included performances at St. Peter's Concert Series (New York City), a recital tour of American Art Song in both the United States and in Germany as well as numerous recitals at Towson University.

Collister holds a DMA in Voice & Opera from University of Maryland (College Park), a Masters of Music and Performance Certificate in Voice & Opera from Northwestern University (Evanston), and Bachelor of Arts in Music/Theatre from Marycrest College (Davenport, Iowa).