Stephanie Woodling

Stephanie Woodling (born in Allentown, Pennsylvania), is a lyric mezzo-soprano, currently engaged by Deutsche Oper am Rhein, where she has performed the roles of Dorabella, Hänsel, Giulietta, Siébel, Annio (La Clemenza di Tito),Wellgunde (Das Rheingold), Kristina (Věc Makropulos),Die zweite Dame (Die Zauberflöte), Tessa (The Gondoliers), and Antonia (Tiefland). She debuted with the company in 2004 as Die zweite Magd in their new production of Elektra.

Career

In 2008 she made her Baltimore Opera Company debut in the role of Stephano in Gounod's Romeo et Juliette. Tim Smith, of Opera News, reported that Ms. Woodling "offered theatrical flair and a voice with lots of warmth and strength." She had another successful debut that season with Michigan Opera Theater as Cherubino, for which Opera News Online hailed her as "the first Cherubino I've encountered who has projected a gawky adolescent boy with unabashed authenticity. She also sings beautifully."

With New York City Opera, Stephanie has performed in A Little Night Music, Rigoletto, and La Traviata. Previously a young artist with Opera Pacific, she appeared in a number of roles, most notably Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni, which critics described as providing "an intellectual burst of animation into the proceedings, giving a charming, brash, and thorough reading." Other Opera Pacific credits include Meg in Little Women,^[1] Flora, Mercedes in Carmen, Jade Boucher in Dead Man Walking, and Die zweite Dame in The Magic Flute. Recent operatic debuts include Lyric Opera of Kansas City as Stephano in Romeo and Juliette, OK Mozart Festival as Ciesca in Gianni Schicchi, and Mrs. Segstrom in Los Angeles Opera’s production of A Little Night Music, and with Caramoor as Flora. As a young artist with Santa Fe Opera for two seasons, she made her debut on their stage in the role of Die zweite Dienerin in Strauss's Die Ägyptische Helena.

A native of Allentown, Pennsylvania, and graduate of Allentown Central Catholic High School, Ms. Woodling began her musical studies with the clarinet at age 10 and continued with voice, tenor saxophone, and sousaphone. She holds both a Bachelor's and a Master's Degree in Music from the Manhattan School of Music, where she studied with Hilda Harris and was a recipient of the President's Award. There she followed her operatic debut in the title role of Handel’s Lotario with that of Isolier in Rossini’s Le Comte d’Ory. Her orchestral debut was with Mahler's Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen, and Ms. Woodling has since debuted with the National Symphony Orchestra at the Kennedy Center, Pacific Symphony Orchestra, the Los Angeles Master Chorale, and The Allentown Symphony Orchestra in Mendelssohn’s Midsummer Night’s Dream, having returned to sing the part of Solveig in Grieg’s incidental music for Peer Gynt. Stephanie is featured on Sony’s live recording of Final Fantasy: More Friends, a concert of Nobuo Uematso’s compositions for the video game series.

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