CHARLES ROBERT STEPHENS, Baritone

Baritone Charles Robert Stephens returns to the Helena Symphony to perform Handel’s Messiah and the role of “Escamillo” in Bizet’s Carmen.   Mr. Stephens first debuted with the Helena Symphony last season in a performance of Handel’s Messiah.   Mr. Stephens career spans a wide variety of roles and styles in opera and concert music.  His performances show “a committed characterization and a voice of considerable beauty.”  (Opera News)  At his most recent performance with the New York City Opera he sang the role of Professor Friedrich Bhaer in the New York premiere of Adamo’s Little Women and was hailed by the New York Times as a “baritone of smooth distinction.”  He has been praised by audiences and critics alike for his “impeccable diction,” communicative abilities and musical sensitivity. 

Recent Carnegie Hall performances with Opera Orchestra of New York have included roles in Otello with Carlo Bergonzi in the title role, Lucrezia Borgia with Renée Fleming as Lucrezia, and Adriana Lecouvreur with soprano Aprille Millo.  Since his debut “as Marcello” in La Bohème, Mr. Stephens New York City Opera roles include “Frank” in Die Tote Stadt, “ Sharpless” in Madama Butterfly, and “Germont” in La Traviata.   

Throughout the country Mr. Stephens’ many leading roles have included “Rigoletto” and “Amonasro” with El Paso Opera, “Germont” with Minnesota Opera, Birmingham Opera, Tacoma Opera, Fresno Symphony, and Connecticut Grand Opera, the “High Priest” in Samson et Delilah with Palm Beach Opera, the title role in Il barbiere di Siviglia with Hawaii Opera and Mobile Opera, “Belcore” in L’elisir d’amore with Eugene Opera and Mobile Opera, “Sharpless” with Opera Grand Rapids, Gianni Schicchi with Buffalo Opera, “Rodrigo” in Don Carlo, and “Count di Luna” in Il Trovatore with Boston Bel Canto, “Silvio” in Pagliacci  with Tampa Opera and New Jersey State Opera, “Enrico” in Lucia di Lammermoor with Connecticut Grand Opera and “Guglielmo” in Cosi fan Tutte with Arizona Opera, among others.

On the international stage he has sung the title role in Rigoletto at Taipei’s National Theater, “Sharpless” in Santo Domingo, “Germont” and “Valentin” (Faust) in Montevideo, Uruguay.  Concert tours have take him to France, Russia, and Canada.

An accomplished recitalist, Mr. Stephens’ chamber music performances throughout the United States have been in a variety of works ranging from Ravel’s Chansons Madéccasses and Schubert’s Winterreise to Stephen foster songs, Broadway songs, and as a featured artist with “Regina Resnik Presents.”