Biography
Hailed by Opera News as “dynamic” and The New York Times as “impressive”, tenor Steven Sanders has performed with many prestigious opera companies including New York City Opera, Wolf Trap Opera, Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, Opera Boston, Chautauqua Opera, Austin Lyric Opera, Des Moines Metro Opera, Amarillo Opera, and the Opera Institute at Boston University. Engagements for the 2009-2010 season include debuts with Toledo Opera as Male Chorus in The Rape of Lucretia and with Boston Lyric Opera as Arbace in Idomeneo as well as a return to the role of Alfred in Die Fledermaus and performances of Don Ottavio with Opera New Jersey. This fall Mr. Sanders also looks forward to adding title role of Faust to his expanding repertoire. In the spring of 2008 he made his New York City Opera debut in Purcell’s King Aurthur and returned to Wolf Trap Opera to perform the role of Oronte in Handel’s Alcina.
Additional engagements for the 2008-2009 season included Alfred in Die Fledermaus and Don Ottavio in Don Giovanni. In concert he was recently seen with Distinguished Concerts International where he performed as tenor soloist in the Mozart Requiem and Haydn’s Mass in the Time of War at Lincoln Center in New York. In addition to the many mainstream roles Mr. Sanders excels in lesser performed roles such as Chairman Mao in Nixon in China by John Adams, Galileo in Galileo Galilei by Philip Glass, Howard Boucher in Dead Man Walking by Jake Heggie, and The Male Chorus in The Rape of Lucretia by Benjamin Britten.
An accomplished concert artist, he has also been heard as a soloist in Orff’s Carmina Burana with the Dallas Wind Symphony, Beethoven Mass in C Major with Boston’s Masterworks Chorale, and in the Mozart Requiem with Ballet Austin and the Norwalk Symphony in Connecticut. On June 1st of 2008 Mr. Sanders made his Carnegie Hall debut as the tenor soloist in Mozart Vesperae Solennes de Confessore.
A native of Chickasha, Oklahoma, Mr. Sanders holds degrees in Music Education from the University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma from which he received the 2004 Distinguished Young Alumni Award. He received his Masters Degree in Vocal Performance from Oklahoma City University where he sang the roles of Edgardo in Lucia di Lammermoor, Alfredo in La traviata, Sam in Street Scene, and Ruggero in La rondine. Mr. Sanders went on to receive a Certificate of Performance from Boston University.
