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The Canadian baritone, Stephen Lancaster, earned certificates in piano and voice from The Royal Conservatory of Music before moving to the USA. He holds degrees from the Moody Bible Institute of Chicago (Bachelor of Music), the University of Notre Dame (Master of Music), and the University of Michigan (Doctor of Musical Arts), and his teachers have included Judith Haddon, Caroline Helton, and John Riley-Schofield. He was declared winner & audience favorite in the 2013 Nico Castel International Mastersinger Competition at Weill Recital Hall, and was the Central Region winner in the 2014 NATS Artist Awards competition.
Stephen Lancaster delights in engaging with audiences, performing in concert, opera, and recital. In 2010 He has made solo debuts in Carnegie Hall, as guest artist with the Notre Dame Concert Band, and Chiang-Kai Shek Memorial Recital Hall in Taipei, during a recital tour of Taiwan. On the operatic stage, highlights include Dancaïro with Eugene Opera, Count Almaviva with Opera Notre Dame, and Schaunard, Falke, Morales, and Dancaïro with Arbor Opera Theater. Concert credits include the South Bend Symphony (Gabriel Fauré's Requiem), Warren Symphony (Carmina Burana), Notre Dame Symphony Orchestra (Gustav Mahler's Kindertotentlieder), Chorosynthesis (Johannes Brahms' Requiem) at St. Mark’s Cathedral in Seattle, and Macalester College (Maurice Duruflé's Requiem), as well as engagements with the South Bend Chamber Singers, University of Michigan Men's Glee Club, WomenSing in Berkeley, California, and Oakland Symphony Orchestra at Detroit Orchestra Hall. Recent engagements include The Bells & Belshazzar's Feast with the Holland Symphony, Carmina Burana with Lisbon Summer Fest at Centro Cultural de Belém, song recitals in France and Germany, and guest solo performances with the Notre Dame Concert Band in New Zealand and Australia.
A passionate recitalist, Stephen Lancaster is on the roster of the Brooklyn Art Song Society, for which he performed Winterreise in 2012, and makes frequent appearances in collaborative concerts with organist Kevin Vaughn. He was a finalist in the “Grand Concours de Chant: Tribute to Gerard Souzay” and has recorded a program of French art songs with Martin Katz for Centaur Records entitled "Le Menu des Mélodies". A lover of new music, he sang in the west-coast premiere of John Musto’s Book of Uncommon Prayer as a Stern Fellow at SongFest, has premiered numerous works by young American composers as a Resident Artist in the Atlantic Music Festival, and has commissioned and premiered songs by Canadian composer J. Scott Brubacher.
An active pedagogue in addition to his performing, Stephen Lancaster served on the voice faculty of the Franco-American Vocal Academy in 2009 and is currently Assistant Professional Specialist at the University of Notre Dame, where he teaches voice in the Department of Music and coordinates the vocal performance concentration in the Master of Sacred Music program. He is also active in sacred music as a singer, organist, and choral conductor, performing sacred concerts and currently serving as Choir Director and Associate Organist at St. David of Wales Episcopal Church in Elkhart, Indiana. |
