Stephen Swanson, baritone

 

Stephen Swanson has appeared in 92 roles in operas, operettas and musicals. Mr. Swanson has sung on German, Dutch and Austrian radio broadcasts and has been a featured soloist in the Berliner Festwochen, Assisi Festa Musica Pro, and Dresdner Tage der zeitgenössischen Musik. He has an extensive concert repertoire ranging from Baroque to avant-garde and has performed with many renowned conductors including Sir Georg Solti, Rafael Frübeck de Burgos, Margaret Hillis, and Vance George.

 

Born in Minneapolis, Mr. Swanson earned his B.M. and B.M.Ed. from North Park College, Chicago, and M.M. from Northwestern University. In 1971 he had his professional debut in Chicago and in New York's Carnegie Hall with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in Arnold Schönberg's Moses and Aaron. In 1975 he received a scholarship to study at the International Opera Studio in Zurich, Switzerland, and remained in Europe performing in opera houses there until 1994.  After nearly twenty years singing opera full-time, Mr. Swanson accepted a position on the music faculty at The University of Iowa. During the current academic year, he is not only Professor of Voice at Iowa, but also Interim Director of Opera.

 

Since moving to Iowa, Stephen Swanson recorded Victor Ullmann’s Der Kaiser von Atlantis, the title role of which he had sung at the United States Holocaust Museum in Washington and the Los Angeles Holocaust Memorial, as well as in Canada, Austria, Sweden, and in Terezin. He has resumed singing recitals and oratorios, and has sung Carmina Burana in Massachusetts, Florida, Texas, California, and throughout the Midwest. A compact disc of his recital “Was my brother in the battle? Songs of War” will be released in 2008.

 

rev.  11/17/2007