Heldentenor Stephen Gould recently completed his whirlwind 2011 season with both critical and popular raves for his portrayal of both Siegfried’s in the Vienna State Opera Ring Production under Christian Thielemann, as well as his unrivaled Tannhäuser under Franz Welser-Möst. The year began with his adding triumphantly the role of Tristan in the celebrated David McVicar production of Tristan und Isolde to his repertoire. The summer was highlighted by his debut at the world renowned Salzburg Summer Festival in Die frau ohne Schatten, again, under maestro Christian Thielemann.

Looking ahead, 2012 includes concert performances of Tristan und Isolde with Nina Stemme as Isolde in Berlin, concert performances of Tannhäuser at Opera Nomori Spring Festival in Tokyo, Das Lied von der Erde in Prague, as well as new productions of Götterdämmerung in Munich and Der fliegende Holländer in Torino. Stephen will also return to the Metropolitan Opera to sing both Siegfried's in the new Lepage Ring Cycle. A new production of Ariadne auf Naxos is also in store for the Vienna State Opera.  Plans in 2013 (the 200th Anniversary of Richard Wagner's birth) include Götterdämmerung in Munich; Parsifal, Tristan und Isolde, as well as concert Siegfried's in Berlin; Der fliegende Holländer, Siegfried, and Götterdämmerung in Vienna, Lohengrin in Hamburg, and also both Siegfried and Götterdämmerung in Amsterdam.

Stephen Gould has performed with such conductors as Daniel Barenboim, Ivor Bolton, Pierre Boulez, Riccardo Chailly, Jesus Lopes Cobos, Myung-Whun Chung, Gabriele Ferro, Asher Fisch, Adam Fischer, Daniele Gatti, Valery Gergiev, Hartmut Haenchen, Marek Janowski, Philippe Jordan, Daniel Lipton, Fabio Luisi, Zubin Mehta, Ingo Metzmacher, Franz Welser-Möst, Kent Nagano, Seiji Ozawa, Donald Runnicles, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Ulf Schirmer, Peter Schneider, Christian Thielemann, und Massimo Zanetti.

A look back during the past few years have included Tristan und Isolde in Tokyo and Dresden, Der fliegende Holländer at the Metropolitan Opera in New York, Lohengrin in Hamburg, Siegfried in Budapest, Parsifal in Vienna, as well as new productions of Les Troyens in Valencia, Der fliegende Holländer in Madrid, Otello in Tokyo,  Siegfried and Götterdämmerung in Vienna, Tannhäuser in Paris as well as in Las Palmas, Peter Grimes in Dresden and Geneva, Die Liebe der Danae and Otello in Dresden, Fidelio in Tokyo, Der fliegende Holländer in Munich, Tannhäuser, Siegfried and Götterdämmerung at the Bayreuth Festival, Lohengrin in Trieste, Tannhäuser in Geneva, Die tote Stadt in Berlin, Vienna and Covent Garden, Fidelio in Rome, Der fliegende Holländer in Palermo, Ariadne auf Naxos and Parsifal in Graz, Les Troyens, Fidelio and Otello in Florence, as well as many other appearances in Dresden, Berlin, Munich, Vienna, Hamburg, Mannheim, Karlsruhe, Oslo, Barcelona and Madrid.

As a concert singer he was heard in Beethoven 9th symphony with the Atlantic Symphony Orchestra (also recorded by Telarc), in Berlin and Munich, Beethoven's Missa Solemnis with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Schönbergs’ Gurrelieder in Montreal, Berlin, Brussels, Amsterdam, Helsinki, and the Lucerne Festival. Mahler's Eighth symphony at the Bergen Festival, Carnegie Hall, and in Leipzig, Paris, Vienna and Budapest, Mahler's Das Lied von der Erde in Berlin, Graz as well as in Israel, Paris, and at the Lucerne Festival, and Stravinsky’s Oedipus Rex in London.

Born in the United States of America, he trained at the New England Conservatory of Music and apprenticed with the Lyric Opera of Chicago Center for American Artists. Stephen spent the first decade of his career in the United States, performing in concert, opera, and especially, touring in musical theater. During this period, he continued his studies with former Metropolitan Opera baritone John Fiorito, making the vocal transition to heldentenor.

Critical praise greeted his European debut as Florestan in Fidelio with the Linzer Landestheater. Continued success followed with Britten's Peter Grimes, Saint-Saens' Samson et Dalila, Weber’s Der Freischütz, and the first of many performances of the title role in Wagner's Tannhäuser. Opern Welt magazine proclaimed Stephen as "a Tannhäuser of international stature." With this foundation laid, Stephen received offers to sing at the prestigious Maggio Musicale in Florence under maestro Zubin Mehta. An important milestone in his career came with his debut as Tannhäuser under maestro Christian Thielemann at the 2004 Bayreuth Festival.  His busy operatic singing schedule is now well into its second decade.