Stephen
Swanson is a
concert and opera singer, a teacher of singing, and a stage director for opera.
He earned degrees from North Park College and Northwestern University and
served a two-year AGMA apprenticeship with the Wolf Trap Company. After an
internship at the International Opera Studio of the Zurich Opera, Swanson sang
in opera houses in Switzerland, Germany, Austria, and the Netherlands, amassing
a repertoire of 91 roles in operas, operettas, and musicals. Since 1994, he has
been Professor of Voice at The University of Iowa.
Swanson toured extensively in North America and Europe, singing
the title role in Victor Ullmann’s Der Kaiser von Atlantis. This historical
reconstruction of the original orchestration and vocal score was documented on
a compact disc recording produced by Studio Matouš
and ARBOS, Company for Music and Theater (Austria), MK022-2 631.
An extremely versatile performer, Swanson sings works from the
Baroque to the avant-garde as well as standard baritone repertoire, such as
Brahms’ Ein deutsches Requiem,
Mendelssohn’s Elijah, and his
signature piece, Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana.
rev. 11/1/2008