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The American baritone and voice teacher, Charles Robert Stephens, obtained his Bachelor of Music degree in Voice from University of Connecticut. He also studied at the Boston University, Goldovsky Opera Institute, and Santa Fe Opera.
Charles Robert Stephens began his activity as an opera/concert singer in January 1980. His career spans a wide variety of roles and styles in opera and concert music. His performances show “A committed characterization and a voice of considerable beauty” (Opera News, 1995). At the New York City Opera he sang the role of Professor Friedrich Bhaer in the New York premiere of Adamo’s Little Women, and was hailed by the New York Times as a “baritone of smooth distinction.” Since his debut as Marcello in La Bohème in 1995, his New York City Opera roles include Frank in Die Tote Stadt (April 2001), Sharpless in Madama Butterfly (September-October 2002), and 43 performances as Germont in La Traviata on tour across the USA (January 2002). He has sung on numerous occasions at Carnegie Hall in a variety of roles with the Oratorio Society of New York (J.S. Bach's Matthäus-Passion BWV 244), Masterwork Chorus & Orchestra (George Frideric Handel's Messiah), and Musica Sacra (Lord Nelson Mass). Carnegie Hall performances with Opera Orchestra of New York have included roles in Otello, Lucrezia Borgia, and Adriana Lecouvreur.
In his twenty years in New York City Charles Robert Stephens has sung as guest soloist with most of New York’s premiere ensembles including Sacred Music in a Sacred Space, Ascension Music, L’Opera Francais de New York, Brooklyn Academy of Music’s Next Wave Festival, and many others. Now based in Seattle he has sung with Seattle Symphony Orchestra, Tacoma and Spokane Symphony and Opera Companies, Portland Chamber Orchestra and many other the orchestras and opera companies in the Pacific Northwest. He joined the roster of Seattle Opera in 2010 for the premiere of Amelia by Daron Hagen.
On the international stage Charles Robert Stephens has sung Rigoletto at Taipei’s National Theater of Taiwan, Sharpless at National Theater of Santo Domingo, Germont and Valentin (Charles Gounod's Faust) in Montevideo, Uruguay, and Montano (Otello) in Mexico City. Concert tours have taken him to France, Russia, and Canada. In the USA, he has sung leading roles throughout the country, including Rigoletto and Amonasro with El Paso Opera, Germont with Minnesota Opera, Birmingham Opera, Tacoma Opera, Fresno Symphony, and Connecticut Grand Opera, the High Priest in Camille Saint-Saëns' Samson et Delilah with Palm Beach Opera, Figaro in the Barber of Seville with Hawaii Opera and Mobile Opera, Belcore with Helena Symphony and Mobile Opera, Sharpless with Opera Grand Rapids and Buffalo Opera, Gianni Schicchi with Buffalo Opera, Rodrigo in Don Carlo and Count di Luna in Il Trovatore with Boston Bel Canto, Silvio in Pagliacci with Tampa Opera and New Jersey State Opera, Enrico in Lucia di Lammermoor with Connecticut Grand Opera, Guglielmo in W.A. Mozart's Cosi fan Tutte with Arizona Opera, Tonio (Di Capo Opera), and many others, with leading opera companies throughout the USA and abroad.
Past memorable engagements include: Scarpia in Tosca and Rigoletto in Spokane, Belcore, Sharpless and Escamillio with the Helena Symphony, Benjamin Britten's Cantata Misericordia in Tacoma and Seattle, Verdi’s Requiem in Philadelphia, G.F. Handel's Messiah with the Santa Fe Symphony, Portland Baroque Orchestra, and the Seattle Symphony Orchestra, Ralph Vaughan Williams' Sea Symphony with The Tacoma Symphony, The High Priest in C. Saint-Saëns' Samson and Delilah in Birmingham and J.S. Bach's Johannes-Passion BWV 245 with Portland Baroque Orchestra and the Northwest Sinfonietta.
Charles Robert Stephens has worked closely with composers in the preparation and performance of new works for the concert hall and the stage, taking part in many premieres at Lincoln Center and as part of “Regina Resnik Presents” television. He has sung G.F. Handel's Messiah and the great cantatas and passions each year with such ensembles as the New York Collegium, Maryland Handel Festival, and Portland Baroque Orchestra. He been invited to perform a wide range of works including Felix Mendelssohn's Elijah with Seattle Pro Musica and Portland Chamber Orchestra, Bloch’s Sacred Service, Carmina Burana with the Hartford Symphony, J. Haydn's Creation with the North Carolina Symphony, Verdi’s Requiem, Gustav Mahler's Songs of a Wayfarer and Opening Night 2014 with the Seattle Symphony Orchestra; with many orchestras including the Hartford Symphony, Colorado Symphony, North Carolina Symphony, American Classical Orchestra, and the Symphony Orchestras of Montevideo, Uruguay and Mexico. Festival appearances include performances at the Lake Placid Center for The Arts, the Methow Chamber Music Festival, the Spoletto Festival, Whidbey Island Music Festival and the Bellingham International Festival.
Performances in 2010-2011 include: G.F. Handel's Esther conducted by Stephen Stubbs (March 2011); a return engagement with Seattle Symphony Orchestra in "Opera Festival"; a debut with Boston Early Music Festival in the role of the Blind Tiresias in Steffani's Niobe, Queen of Thebes (June 2011); and a return engagement with the American Classical Orchestra as Jesus in J.S. Bach's Matthäus-Passion BWV 244 at St. John the Divine in NYC (April 2011). Locally he sang Carmina Burana, G.F. Handel's Alexander’s Feast, R. Vaughan Williams' Five Mystical Songs and Sharpless in Madama Butterfly.
In 2015-2016, Charles Robert Stephens performed Monteverdi's Vespers with Pacific Musicworks conducted by Stephen Stubbs (October 2015); G.F. Handel's Messiah with Tacoma Symphony and Bellevue Ballet, Johannes Brahms' Requiem in Missoula and Olympia, the title role in Rigoletto with Northwest Lyric Opera, J.S. Bach's Mass in B minor BWV 232 with Seattle Pro Musica (May 2016), J. Haydn’s Mass in Time of War with the Northwest Sinfonietta (March 2016); and Don Alfonso in W.A. Mozart's Cosi Fan Tutte with City Opera Bellevue.
The 2016-2017 season brought performances of Rob Kapilow’s Polar Express with the Seattle Symphony Orchestra, L.v. Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with the Yakima and Spokane Symphony, G.F. Handel's Messiah in Helena, Tacoma and Vashon Island, the world premiere of John Muhlheisen’s Passion of Rudyard Kipling with Choral Arts, Jeffrey L. Moidel’s Four Love Sonnets with the Lake UniCivic Orchestra, W.A. Mozart's Requiem with Northwest Sinfonietta and various recitals and chamber music concerts in the Seattle area. The 2017-2018 concert year brought 3 G.F. Handel's Messiah productions including Symphony Tacoma, L.v. Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with Olympia Symphony, a reprise of John Muhlheisen’s epic work The Kipling Passion, Haydn Lord Nelson Mass with Seattle Metropolitan Chamber Orchestra and Carmina Burana with the Whatcom Symphony.
Charles Robert Stephens maintains an active voice studio in Seattle and teaches voice at Plu. He currently lives in Seattle, Washington. |
