A “superb vocal soloist” (The Washington Post) with “impressive clarity and color” (The New York Times), tenor Steven Soph performs concert repertoire spanning the Renaissance to modern day. In the 2018-2019 season, Steven made his Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra debut in a program of Bach, Monteverdi, Purcell, and Vivaldi, led by Patrick Dupré Quigley. Steven also made his New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, Variant 6, and Bourbon Baroque debuts in Handel’s Messiah followed by his Champaign-Urbana Symphony Orchestra debut in Stacy Garrop’s Terra Nostra, conducted by Stephen Alltop, his Arkansas Choral Society debut as the Evangelist in Bach’s St. John Passion, led by Kent Skinner, and his Charlotte Bach Festival debut as the Evangelist in Bach’s St. Matthew Passion, conducted by Scott Allen Jarrett. He returned to the Master Chorale of South Florida as Uriel in Haydn’s Creation, under Brett Karlin, to the Baroque Chamber Orchestra of Colorado as Pastore and Apollo in Monteverdi’s Orfeo, conducted by Stephen Stubbs, and to the Colorado Bach Ensemble for Bach’s Coffee Cantata, led by James Kim.
An active Bach interpreter, Steven has “expertly inhabited” (Chicago Classical Review) and “intoned the long, intricate and gruelingly difficult lines of the Evangelist with precision of pitch and rhythm” (Palm Beach Arts Paper) in Bach’s St. Matthew Passion with Chicago Chorale and Seraphic Fire (Mendelssohn version). He performed “with a tenor ranging from feathered intimacies to powerful, glinting top notes” (The Dallas Morning News) and was deemed “first-class across the board” (Chicago Classical Review) as the Evangelist in Bach’s St. John Passion with the University of North Texas’ Collegium (1725 version) and Chicago Chorale. Steven appeared in Bach’s B minor Mass with Symphony Orchestra Augusta, the Indianapolis Baroque Orchestra, and Chicago Chorale; Bach’s Magnificat with Voices of Ascension, True Concord Voices & Orchestra, and Seraphic Fire; and employed “brilliant clarity and warm color” (South Florida Classical Review) in Bach’s Easter Oratorio with Seraphic Fire. Additionally, Steven has performed as the Evangelist in Bach’s St. Matthew Passion with Bach Society of St. Louis, Brown University, and Boston University’s Marsh Chapel; as the Evangelist in Bach’s St. John Passion with Boston University’s Marsh Chapel and Concord Chorale; performed arias in Bach’s St. Matthew Passion with Voices of Ascension, Chicago Chorale, and Colorado Bach Ensemble; arias in Bach’s St. John Passion with Spire Chamber Ensemble (Kansas City) and Musikanten Montana; and brought his “excellent lyric tenor” (South Florida Classical Review) to BWV 34 and The Cleveland Orchestra, under Franz Welser-Möst.
Recent seasons’ highlights include joining The Cleveland Orchestra for the Severance Hall premier performances of Stravinsky’s Threni id est Lamentationes Jeremiae Prophetae conducted by Franz Welser-Möst, an all-Handel program led by Ton Koopman, and Mozart’s Requiem led by Patrick Dupré Quigley. Steven performed Reich’s The Desert Music with the New World Symphony and Seraphic Fire; Mozart’s “Orphanage” Mass with San Diego’s Mainly Mozart Festival Orchestra; and Mozart’s Mass in C minor with the Bach Society of St. Louis and the Mainly Mozart Festival Orchestra. He has performed Handel’s Messiah with the Cheyenne Symphony Orchestra, Bach Society of St. Louis, Master Chorale of South Florida, Handel Oratorio Society (Augustana College), Spire Chamber Ensemble, Apollo Master Chorus of Chicago, and Alpine Chorale (Denver); Vivaldi’s Introduction and Gloria with Voices of Ascension; Mozart’s Requiem and Haydn’s Lord Nelson Mass with Master Chorale of South Florida and Seraphic Fire; Haydn’s Creation with Texas Choral Consort and Colorado Pro Musica; and Evangelist in the North American debut of Keiser’s Brockes-Passion at the University of Connecticut.
International appearances include Utrecht Early Music Festival, the Netherlands; Festival Tage Alter Musik in Regensburg, Germany; Musica Sacra Festival, Maastricht, the Netherlands; and Festival Laus Polyphoniae, Antwerp, Belgium with Cut Circle, in addition to Festival de Arte y Ópera Contemporánea in Morelia, Mexico with Roomful of Teeth.
Steven performs with top American vocal ensembles including GRAMMY-nominated Seraphic Fire and True Concord Voices & Orchestra; GRAMMY Award-winning Roomful of Teeth and Conspirare; Gramophone® finalist Cut Circle; Trident; Yale Choral Artists; Santa Fe Desert Chorale; Oregon Bach Festival Berwick Chorus; Colorado Bach Ensemble; Sounding Light; Ensemble Origo; and Spire Chamber Ensemble.
Recent recording credits include Académie du Disque Lyrique Orphées d’Or-winning “Guillaume Du Fay: The Tenor Masses” with Cut Circle, Seraphic Fire’s “Steal Away,” tenor vocals on Maná’s Latin GRAMMY Award-winning Best Pop/Rock Album “Cama Incendiada,” and Jory Vinikour’s upcoming album of duet cantatas by Agostino Stefanni.
Steven holds degrees from the University of North Texas and Yale School of Music where he studied at Yale’s Institute of Sacred Music with renowned tenor James Taylor. Steven attended the American Bach Soloists Academy in 2011, was a 2014 Carmel Bach Festival Adams Fellow, and a 2016 Oregon Bach Festival Young Artist.
