Tenor Steven Paul Spears has performed with the Deutsche Oper Berlin, and in several opera companies in the United States, including the Aspen Music Festival, Utah, Utah Festival (in Logan), Palm Beach, Kentucky, Cincinnati, St. Louis and Memphis, as well as the Juilliard Opera Theater.
Summer 2005 Steven portrayed the comic role of Demo in Cavalli’s Giasone under the leadership of Early Music specialist Harry Bicket at the Aspen Opera Theatre, garnering glowing reviews from the NY Times, Denver Post and the Rocky Mountain News.
In March 2003, under the baton of James Conlon, Steven began a series of performances singing the Harlekin in Viktor Ullmann’s Der Kaiser von Atlantis, produced in conjunction with the Juilliard School. Originating in New York City, this production has been seen in Spoleto, Italy, Los Angeles and Miami, Chicago, culminating in a performance in Houston November 2006. The Chicago Tribune said his performance was “most expressive and beautiful of voice.”
Specializing in obscure works of the Baroque (Monteverdi and Handel) and contemporary periods (Orff and Britten), his operatic repertoire also includes the coloratura and lyric roles of Mozart and Rossini, as well as mainstream character roles, such as Little Bat in Floyd's Susannah, Goro in Puccini's Madama Butterfly and David in Wagner's Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg.
Steven has completed a recording of Renard, utilizing Stravinsky’s translation and final editions to the score, conducted by Robert Craft for Naxos Records. He has recorded Bach's Johannes-Passion and B Minor Mass with the New England Bach Festival and Britten's St. Nicolas with the Choir of St. Francis in the Fields and conductor James Rightmyer in Louisville, Kentucky.
Mr. Spears’ concert repertoire contains works by Handel, Britten, Bach, Mendelssohn, Schubert, and Vaughan Williams. In April 2003, he made his Carnegie Hall debut singing Britten’s War Requiem with the Juilliard Orchestra and Choral Union, with Maestro David Atherton. Steven has sung acclaimed performances with the New England Bach Festival, Marlboro Music Festival, Academy of Ancient Music, Deutschen Symphonie-Orchester, La Monnaie Symphony Orchestra (in Brussels), Louisville Orchestra, Louisville Bach Society, Richmond (VA) Ballet, Louisville Chorus, Gloriana (in Salt Lake City), Lautten Compagney (in Berlin) and the Louisville Ballet. This Fall Steven made further New York debuts with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center in Stravinsky’s Renard and Carmina Burana with the National Chorale.
In May 2004, he received the Master’s Degree in Music from the Juilliard School in New York City, where he began his studies with Marlena Malas. He earned his Bachelor's Degree in Music from the University of Louisville School of Music, under Edith Davis Tidwell. He is Assistant Professor of Music, voice, at Lawrence Conservatory in Appleton, Wisconsin.
Contact by e-mail: steven.spears@lawrence.edu