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Awards
2026 Recipient of the Illinois Creative Accelerator Grant 2020 Honored Artist of The American Prize for Artistic Excellence 2018 Winner of The American Prize - Chicago Oratorio Award 2014 - 3rd Place Winner of The American Prize - Schorr Memorial Award in Art Song 2013 Winner of The Hawaii Public Radio Art Song Contest 2012 Winner of The American Prize - Chicago Opera Award 2011 Winner of The American Prize - Schorr Memorial Award in Art Song 2011 Winner of The Johnny Mercer Award 2011 Bronze Medal Winner - The American Traditions Competition Biography
Christine Steyer is the 2026 recipient of the Illinois Creative Accelerator Grant and the 2020 Honored Artist of The American Prize for outstanding contributions to the arts. The soprano has received acclaim for her portrayals of Madame Butterfly and Violetta, and has sung in 40 productions at Lyric Opera of Chicago. She shared the stage with Lawrence Brownlee, members of the Chicago Symphony and Lyric Opera of Chicago Orchestras, and was featured on WFMT’s program Music Notes: Music of Healing and Peace. Steyer is an avid recitalist and producer, showcasing unique works by contemporary and by women poets and composers. In 2021, she premiered the role of the Rio de Janeiro Health Care Worker in On Call: COVID-19 and in 2022 premiered the role of Flanna in Future Perfect. Steyer served as librettist for this award-winning Transcendence opera series. Steyer had an active performance schedule singing Elijah, Speed Dating Tonight, Le dernier sorcier, songs of Florence Price and Ernst Bacon, as well as presenting excerpts from her latest opera as librettist, Outside the Ring. She and French pianist Jean-Claude Orfali released videos featuring their original songs as well as the official English versions of works by legendary French composer Henri Betti. Highlights in 2026 include a new libretto, And I Did Not Speak Out, about the consequences silence in the face of fascism, recitals of music by Jake Heggie and the role of The Countess in Le nozze di Figaro. Steyer has brought music to 26,000 youths in underserved areas with Bellissima Opera's In the Classroom. She is Co-founder of the vocal alliance Working in Concert, and Artistic Director of its Bellissima Opera initiative. She is on the music faculty at Concordia University in River Forest and teaches music at Ascension Catholic School in Oak Park, IL. Steyer is thrilled to share her deep love of music with new generations of young people. She lives in Oak Park with her husband Paul and their beloved rescue dog Huckleberry. In her free time she loves to garden, paint and travel around the world.
A recent presentation at the National Opera Association Conference in Houston. This was partially supported by a grant from the Illinois Arts Council, a state agency.
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Press Quotes
"In particular, Christine Steyer’s rendition of Cio-Cio San was notable for gorgeous, satisfying vocal production from top to bottom, consummate musicianship, and charming stage presence. However, for me, what made her performance completely convincing and satisfying was her ability to project an enormous range of emotions in her singing and acting with minimal theatricality. The Butterfly role is so well known there is an inherent danger that any interpretation will almost seem to be a cliché of others we have heard unless it obviously attempt to deviate from the norm. Steyer’s version did not need to resort to any manipulative ploys for our sympathy because her emotional presence came across as absolutely honest and heartfelt. From the first notes wafting from off stage at her first entrance, we sensed her deep understanding of Cio-Cio San’s innocence and loveliness, vulnerability and sadness, and believed her completely from that moment on. By the end of the opera, we shared her devastating pain as personally and directly as if she were someone we knew as intimately as family." -Stephen Thomas, Professor of Music www.loosefilter.com |
