Headshot September 2012
Baritone Steven Slupe completed his graduate studies and obtained his master’s degree from the A.J. Fletcher Opera Institute at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Steven is originally from Caldwell, Idaho, where he received his bachelor’s degree, Summa Cum Laude, in May of 2011 from The College of Idaho. While studying with Dr. Mari Jo Tynon at The College of Idaho, Steven appeared in every music department production since his freshman year, taking leading roles in Dido and Aeneas, Trouble in Tahiti, The Tales of Hoffman, and The Telephone. He also sang in several Opera Idaho productions, including an appearance as Papageno in their May 2011 educational outreach presentation of The Magic Flute. During the summers, Steven sang in young artist programs across the country and abroad, including the Colorado College Vocal Arts Symposium in Colorado Springs, the Johanna Meier Opera Theatre Institute in Spearfish, South Dakota, and the Bel Canto Institute in Florence, Italy.
In his first year at the A.J. Fletcher Opera Institute, Steven appeared as Master Page in the Institute’s production of Nicolai’s The Merry Wives of Windsor, and was featured in several scenes programs, including excerpts from Hamlet, Linda di Chamounix, The Magic Flute, Il Barbiere di Siviglia, and Manon. In the spring, he appeared in Giuseppe Gazzaniga’s one-act opera Don Giovanni Tenorio as Pasquariello and in Arthur Sullivan’s Cox and Box as James John Cox. Over the following summer, Steven sang with the Princeton Festival as Pinellino in their production of Gianni Schicchi, and later appeared as Marco in a second Gianni Schicchi with the Land of Enchantment Opera Institute in Gallup, New Mexico. In his second year at the Fletcher Opera Institute, Steven appeared as Crébillon and Rabonnier in Puccini’s La Rondine, and later sang the title role in Benjamin Britten’s Owen Wingrave, a performance praised as “valiant” and “touchingly sung.” After graduating, Steven returned to the Land of Enchantment Opera Institute, where he appeared in scenes from Don Pasquale, The Pearl Fishers, Carousel, and Falstaff. In addition, he covered the role of Harlekin and stepped in as a last minute replacement as Truffaldin in Strauss’s Ariadne auf Naxos. Thereafter, Steven was a regular performer with Tulsa Opera’s chorus, as well as appearing in the Tulsa Youth Opera production of The Giver and in the Tulsa Opera Studio Artists production of Daron Hagen’s Shining Brow.
Steven currently lives in the Washington DC area.