Stephanie Weiss

Stephanie Weiss, mezzo-soprano, is an associate professor of voice at Arizona State University - Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts - School of Music, Dance and Theatre. She earned her bachelor's in music from New England Conservatory (voice), bachelor's in biology and drama Tufts University, master's in music from University of Missouri-Kansas City, Professional Studies Diploma from Mannes College of Music, and Doctor of Musical Arts from University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Previously, she was assistant professor of voice at University of Nevada, Las Vegas, a teaching fellow with the Metropolitan Opera Education Department, and has served on the faculty of COSI (Centre for Opera Studies in Italy) in Sulmona, Italy. She currently is on the faculty at Dramatic Voices Program at Opera Programs Berlin and since 2010, she has been on the voice faculty at AIMS in Graz.

A San Diego native, she was a Midwest Regional Finalist of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions and at Mannes College of Music, a recipient of a Richard F. Gold Career Grant from the Shoshana Foundation. As the winner of the American Berlin Opera Foundation Competition (now Opera Foundation), she became a member of Deutsche Oper Berlin as a Stipendiatin and continues to be a regular guest artist with the company. Roles at the Deutsche Oper Berlin have included Frasquita (Carmen), Musetta (La bohème), Erste Dame and Zweite Dame (Die Zauberflöte), Gerhilde and Grimgerde (Die Walküre), and Schlafittchen (Berlin premiere of Das Traumfresserchen), Marianne Leitmetzerin (Der Rosenkavalier), Aufseherin (Elektra), Johanna [cover] (Szenen aus dem Leben der Heiligen Johanna), and Venus [cover] (Tannhäuser) in the company's tour to Beijing.

On the concert stage, she debuted with the Berlin Philharmonic as the Cook in "Le Rossignol" under the baton of Pierre Boulez. She has also sung the role of Rose in "Lakmé" at Carnegie Hall with Opera Orchestra of New York under Eve Queler. She performed "Wesendonck Lieder" with the Henderson Symphony Orchestra, Mahler's "Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen" and Symphony No. 4, and Strauss' "Vier letzte Lieder" with the L'viv Philharmonic (Ukraine), and Santuzza in "Cavalleria rusticana" with Singakademie Potsdam.

A versatile performer, she has also been seen at Staatsoper Unter den Linden in Berlin as Erste Dame (Die Zauberflöte), Marcellina (Le nozze di Figaro) and Marthe (Faust), Oper Frankfurt as Musetta (La bohème), Oper Leipzig as Grimgerde (Die Walküre) and Stadttheater Bern, Oper Dortmund, and Oper Köln as Marianne Leitmetzerin. Other notable performances have included Venus in "Tannhäuser" with Mecklenburgisches Staatstheater Schwerin, and the title role of Johanna in "Szenen aus dem Leben der Heiligen Johanna" by Walter Braunfels at Oper Köln. 

An advocate of new music and art song, she performs frequently with her 'duo au courant' partner, pianist Christina Wright-Ivanova. They performed the world premiere of Jonathan Stark's song cycle "Passageway" at the National Opera Center and presented a lecture recital in Sydney, Australia. Recently, the duo's debut CD, "Sacred & Profane - Duo au Courant performs Song Cycles of Daren Hagen" was released on Albany Records and distributed by Naxos.