Opera singer.
Comedian.
Writer.
American soprano Stephanie DePrez moved to Europe to sing opera. Now, she combines classical singing with stand-up comedy in a singular stage experience thrilling audiences across Europe. She's performed stand-up from Los Angeles to London, sung as soprano soloist at Carnegie Hall and the Berlin Konzerthaus, and opened for Michelle Wolf, David Cross, and Kyla Cobbler.
"Her enthusiasm and musical skill are infectious."
Kevin Ibbotson-Wight, The Wee Review
"Steph is clearly an expert at her craft."
Olivia Ruggiero, Theatre Travels
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Read now! Steph's weekly newsletter brings you stories from the road and the most up to date schedule.
"But, like, how did you end up doing this?"
Steph was born in Santa Monica, California, and grew up in Denver, Colorado.
After graduating from the University of Notre Dame, Steph taught high school for four years at Xavier College Prep in Palm Desert, CA. She was the recipient of the Rotary Club of Palm Desert Spirit of Service in Secondary Education award for her work as a choir director, theology teacher, and drama program director.
As a Catholic theology teacher, Steph led monthly student immersion trips to East LA to facilitate hands-on understanding of Catholic Social Teaching and our human responsibility to accompany those on the margins. She and her students worked closely with the Guadalupe Homeless Project at Dolores Mission, preparing food for and eating with men staying at the shelter, and Homeboy Industries, exploring the root causes of gang formation and rebahilitation.
Steph began taking improv lessons at the Groundlings School, LA's renowned comedy training institution, during her final year teaching high school, driving two hours each way into LA every Sunday for classes. In 2015, she left teaching to pursue a career in acting. Steph became a VIP Tour Guide at Universal Studios Hollywood and the Music Director at St. Timothy Parish in West LA, jobs that fit well in between TV auditions and gigs as a seat-filler on game shows.
In 2016, at the encouragement of her voice teacher in LA, Steph began a Master's in opera at UCLA. Since graduating, she's performed with Seraphic Fire, Manhattan Opera Studio, Miami Music Festival, American Wagner Project, Dramatic Voices Program Berlin, and Regents Opera in London.
Denver, CO
Palm Desert, CA
Los Angeles
Like most American opera singers, Steph knew her best bet for a career on stage would be to move to Europe, which offers a far more robust opera scene. From 2019-2021, Steph worked as a United States Teaching Assistant for Fulbright Austria, teaching at the Pädagogische Hochschule Niederösterreich, a teacher's college just south of Vienna. While doing the Fulbright, she continued vocal study with Sylvia Greenberg and Linda Watson in Vienna.
Vienna
During the pandemic and subsequent shut-down of opera, Steph began spending more time at comedy open mics, developing a set based on her experience as an opera singer and new life singing and working in Europe. As the opera world struggled to re-open, Steph moved from Vienna to Berlin, and comedy went from being a refuge to being a creative necessity.
Berlin
Steph continues to perform in both worlds. She made her debut in Berlin's music scene with Dvorak's Stabat Mater as the soprano soloiest at the Berlin Konzerthaus in 2022, and recently covered Sieglinde for Regents Opera in London. Her two solo shows, "The Opera Comedy Show" (2023) and "Lessons on Being Loud (from an American Opera Singer)" (2024) premiered at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival before coming home to sold-out performances in Berlin. In 2024, she sang live and gave an interview on BBC News in a story about international acts at the Fringe, and was featured in the recent Arte documentary about female comedians: "Stand-up, la rage de rire."
In January of 2025, Steph decided to pursue comedy full time. She's opened for Michelle Wolf, David Cross, and Kyla Cobbler.
Steph has nine years of parallel career experience as writer with specialties in Catholic spirituality and B2B content for SaaS companies. You learn can more about her corporate experience on LinkedIn. Steph recently launched her Substack newsletter "You're Invited to Laugh," a weekly look at work as a stand-up comedian. She's also the lead vocalist for the metal band Avistortion (who you can follow on Spotify!)
Steph currently lives in Weisensee with her cat Loaf and a couch that hosts a rotating collection of comedians on tour and opera singers in town for auditions.