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Awards
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 Full Biography
Christine Steyer As a performer, the soprano has distinguished herself as an artist of great versatility. In addition to being the recipient of national awards such as the 2020 Honored Artist of The American Prize for outstanding contributions to the arts, and the Johnny Mercer Award, Steyer has received acclaim for her portrayals of the title role in Madama Butterfly and Violetta in La Traviata. Since 2000, she has sung as a chorister and in several small roles in 40 productions at Lyric Opera of Chicago. Steyer is an avid recitalist often presenting both traditional and contemporary works in a variety of languages, and works by women composers. In 2019 Steyer sang in France with The Chicago Paris Cabaret Connexion at the Montpellier Opera House, Paris' Salle Olympe de Gouges and the Lapin Agile. Just prior to the pandemic, she sang at the Schubert Festival at Unity Temple, in Oak Park, where Steyer shared the stage with Lawrence Brownlee and members of the Chicago Symphony and Lyric Opera of Chicago Orchestras, presented a recital Music of Hope and Healing at The 19th Century Club and was featured on WFMT’s program Music Notes: Music of Healing and Peace singing the aria “Red is a Trick”. In April 2021, Steyer premiered the role of the Rio de Janeiro Health Care Worker in the opera On Call: COVID-19 and in June 2022, premiered the role of Flanna in the opera Future Perfect–a tale of curiosity. Additionally, Steyer served as librettist for these two operas (composed by David Shenton) for Bellissima Opera’s award-winning Tales of Transcendence series. As a music advocate, Steyer has brought classical music to 24,000 youth in underserved areas with her organization, Bellissima Opera Outreach. She collaborates with other professional musicians to create new works on relevant, contemporary themes. Her songbook, Six Songs for Soprano, was co-written with several musicians. She and French composer, Jean-Claude Orfali, are writing a book of original cabaret songs to release in 2023. Steyer is the President of the new vocal arts alliance, Working in Concert, as well as the Artistic Director of its Bellissima Opera initiative. She has an active private voice studio in Oak Park for two decades. She is teaches music at Ascension Catholic School in Oak Park, and is a member of the voice faculty at Concordia University in River Forest. |
Recent 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 |