Stephen Powell

American baritone Stephen Powell sings a repertoire that extends from Monteverdi and Handel through Verdi and Puccini to John Adams and Stephen Sondheim. He has performed for such prestigious companies as San Francisco Opera, Los Angeles Opera, and the Metropolitan Opera in New York; his interpretations there have spanned a wide spectrum, from the title roles in Mathis der Maler, Eugene Onegin, and Don Giovanni to Mozart’s Papageno, the Count, and Guglielmo; Verdi’s Germont and Ford; and Puccini’s Sharpless and Marcello. Concert appearances also play an important part in Powell’s career. In the last two seasons he has sung in Szymanowski’s Stabat mater under Christoph Eschenbach, in Orff’s Carmina burana under Paavo Järvi, and in Mahler’s Eighth Symphony under David Zinman. He regularly gives lieder recitals—for example at the New York Festival of Song—and performs duets with his wife, soprano Barbara Shirvis.

July 2010