Jeffrey Stevens (Lillas Pastillia / A Guide)
Bass-baritone, Jeffrey Stevens, loves to make people laugh and is frequently cast as a buffo or character singer in funny roles that demand a good sense of timing. He’s been cast in the roles of: Melchior, Antonio, Alfred P. Doolittle, Major General, Mikado, Sacristan, Dr. Grenvil, Benoit/Alcindoro and Sir Joseph, and most recently in Phoenix Opera’s productions of La Bohème, Tosca, and Aïda.
Stevens has performed with several opera companies throughout the U.S. including Opera Southwest in Albuquerque, Tulsa Opera, National Opera in Raleigh (North Carolina), Des Moines Metro Opera, Lyric Opera Oklahoma, Amarillo Opera, Salisbury Lyric Opera, Longwood Opera, Arizona Opera, Opera for the Young in Madison and Northern Virginia Opera Company in Washington, D.C. He received his Doctorate in voice from Arizona State University and studied at West Texas State University, Boston University, Peabody Conservatory and Temple University. Stevens was awarded fellowships to Boston University’s Opera Institute where he participated in the Educational Outreach Program of the Handel & Haydn Society; the Stonybrook Bach Aria Group and apprenticed with Four Corners Opera in Durango. From 1995 to 1997, Stevens taught at Simpson College in Indianola, Iowa and from 1998 to 1999 at Northern Arizona State University in Flagstaff, Arizona. He has sung at the Oberlin and Connecticut Early Music Festivals and was part of the professional chorus at the Oregon Bach Festival in Eugene. Stevens is active in the Phoenix area singing with Operatunity, an opera in the schools program, as well as with the Phoenix Symphony.