STEPHANIE DEPREZ
"Freia, the goddess of youth, was elegantly sung by Stephanie DePrez."
South Florida Classical Review
BIOGRAPHY
Stephanie DePrez is an American opera singer living in Berlin, Germany.
Stephanie began 2023 in the studio with Tresor Records to record an electronic album as a member of Vocal Consort Berlin, and joined Regents Opera in London for the second installment of their new production of the Ring Cycle, covering Sieglinde, Helmwige, Ortlinde, and Siegrune.
Stephanie made her German debut at the Konzerthaus Berlin as the soprano soloist for Dvorak's "Stabat Mater" under the direction of Thomas Hennig. She sang Freia in the Miami Classical Music Festival’s production of Das Rheingold as a Wagner Institute Fellow. She was the recipient of an Artist Grant from The Wagner Society of Washington DC, and an offer to join the American Wagner Project, for which she sang selections of Elisabeth (Tannhäuser) and Elsa (Lohengrin) under the direction of Luana DeVol. Recent full roles include Woglinde in Das Rheingold and Gerhilde in Die Walküre.
In 2021, Stephanie recorded the operatic alter-ego voice for a character in Smosh Mosh, an animated Austrian show for adults. Stephanie collaborated with the film composing duo Wazim-Murali as a soloist for the original motion picture soundtrack of Mariyam Vannu Vilakkoothi, a Malayalam film that premiered in 2020 in India. The film’s soundtrack is available on Spotify. She's also provided voice over for a number of video projects.
Stephanie spent most of the pandemic living Vienna supported by work as a United States Teaching Assistant with Fulbright Austria while studying privately with Linda Watson and Sylvia Greenberg. During her time in Austria, she joined mezzo Erin Marks to perform the Austrian premiere of of Black American composer Florence Price's art songs during a recital of American music and jazz at Burg Bernstein in Burgenland, Austria.
In the summer of 2019, Stephanie made her Carnegie Hall debut at a sold-out concert in the Weill Recital Hall, singing the role of Santuzza in a scene from Cavalleria Rusticana. She performed selections from Strauss’ “Sechs Lieder” (Brentano) with pianist Michael Sikich at Knutson Studios in reital in Berlin. The program included the rarely-performed final song, “Lied der Frauen.” In the 2018-2019 season, Stephanie joined Steinway Artist Leann Osterkamp in their hometown of Denver, Colorado for two recitals.
Stephanie sang the lead role of Susan B. Anthony in Opera UCLA's spring 2018 production of The Mother of Us All, Aunt Norris in Mansfield Park, and Dorothée in Cendrillon. At the University of Notre Dame, she sang Antonia in Les Contes d’Hoffmann, Béatrice in Béatrice et Bénédict, and Marthe in Gounod's Faust. Stephanie has been featured in recital with LA Opera Composer-in-Residence Matthew Aucoin and composer Mark Carlson.
Stephanie performed as an inaugural member of the UCLA Ensemble Artist Program, an educational collaboration with GRAMMY® nominated Seraphic Fire. She performed as a guest artist with Seraphic Fire during their 2017–2018 season across southern Florida in Bach’s St. Matthew Passion and Arvo Pärt’s Passio, and at the Professional Choral Institute at Aspen Music Festival and School. As a member of the UCLA Chamber Singers, Stephanie was a frequent soloist, and sang the role of Dido in concert.
Stephanie DePrez holds a Masters in Music in Voice from the University of California Los Angeles, where she was the recipient of the Mimi Alpert Feldman Scholarship for Voice and the Fritz Altmann Scholarship, and was the 2018 Graduate Commencement Speaker. Stephanie holds a Bachelor of Arts in Music and Film Production/Television Studies from the University of Notre Dame and is featured on Notre Dame’s Grotto Network as the subject of the short film, “Singing Opera to Bring Beauty to the World.”
Stephanie loves to share opera on and off the stage. She’s spoken on the development of opera as an artform, and life as a singer, as a guest lecturer in UCLA’s Comparative Literature Department in 2020 and 2021, and for Regis Jesuit High School’s music department and journalism classes. In April of 2020, in response to the pandemic, Stephanie hosted “Opera Comedy Live!” on Facebook and Instagram, combining stand-up comedy with a family-friendly intro to opera, which has been viewed over a thousand times.
Stephanie is also a working commedian. She studied at The Groundlings School and Upright Citizens Brigade in Los Angeles and frequently sings while performing stand-up. In 2023 she was invited to bring her full show, "The Opera Comedy Show," to the Edinburgh Fringe Free Festival, produced by Laughing Horse.
Stephanie was born in Santa Monica, California and grew up in Denver, Colorado.