|
The American tenor, Gene Stenger, studied at Bethel Park High School (2001-2005). He obtained his Bachelor of Music Degree in Voice Performance with Arts Management Emphasis from Baldwin Wallace University Conservatory of Music (2005-2010), and his .Master of Music Degree in Voice Performance from Colorado State University (2010-2013). Currently, he is completing a second Master of Music Degree in Early Music, Oratorio, and Chamber Music Performance (2013-expected 2015) with a full scholarship from the Yale School of Music conferred jointly with the Yale Institute of Sacred Music, where he studies with tenor James Taylor.
Gene Stenger is quickly establishing himself both on the national and international level as a specialist in the oratorio repertoire. Praised for his “sweet vibrancy” (Cleveland Plain Dealer) and “crisp, gleaming sound” (nffo.blogspot.com), Gene Stenger, a specialist in the oratorio repertoire of J.S. Bach and George Frideric Handel, sings with elegant conviction and effortless agility. In 2011, Stenger performed as the tenor soloist in J.S. Bach’s Magnificat (BWV 243) under the baton of world-renowned conductor, Helmuth Rilling at the National Collegiate Choral Conference held at Colorado State University. Following the conference, Maestro Helmuth Rilling personally invited Gene to perform in March 2012 in the chorus of the Junges Stuttgarter Bach Ensemble with the Internationale Bachakademie Stuttgart, and completed an international tour in Italy. In March 2013, Stenger returned to the Internationale Bachakademie Stuttgart to perform as the tenor soloist in J.S. Bach’s St. Matthew Passion (BWV 244), and completed an international tour with Maestro Helmuth Rilling in both Germany and Chile. Gene received international acclaim for his performance in Bensheim, Germany, commending him for "effortlessly mastering the many coloratura embellishments in his arias..."(morgenweb.de).
Gene Stenger has also performed under the baton of Simon Carrington, Masaaki Suzuki, and Jeffrey Thomas (with American Bach Soloists, 2012), and has been a featured tenor soloist with the Yale Glee Club, American Bach Soloists Academy, Fort Collins Symphony, and the Denver Philharmonic Orchestra, as a winner of the 2011 Young Artist Voice Competition. His performance with the Denver Philharmonic was broadcast on KPOF Radio, AM 91 Denver. He has also appeared as both a soloist, and in the ensemble with the Yale Schola Cantorum, and the Colorado Bach Ensemble.
Equally at home on the opera stage, Gene Stenger’s opera credits include Paolino in Il matrimonio segreto, Peter Quint-understudy in Turn of the Screw, the roles of Pirelli and The Beadle in Sweeney Todd, and Marco Palmieri in The Gondoliers with the Charles and Reta Ralph Opera Center at Colorado State University, Tonio-understudy in La fille du Régiment, Count Almaviva-understudy in Il Barbiere di Siviglia, King Kaspar in Amahl and the Night Visitors, El Remendado in Carmen, and Prince Yamadori in Madama Butterfly with Opera Fort Collins, where he served as an Apprentice Artist with the company from 2010-2013, Albert Herring in Albert Herring with Opera in the Ozarks Young Artist Program, and also debuted the role of the Stage Manager in the Ohio Premiere of Ned Rorem's Our Town at Baldwin Wallace University Conservatory of Music. Overseas, Stenger has also performed the role of Ferrando in Cosi fan tutte with Opera Orvieto, and also participated in an Opera Scenes Exchange Program with students from East China Normal University in Shanghai, China. |
