Biography
KS Stephen Gould continues to be one of the most sought after heroic tenors in the opera world today, especially known for his undertaking of the works of Richard Wagner. He has sung in most of the great opera houses worldwide, from Vienna, Munich, Berlin, Paris, Rome and London, to New Yorks' Metropolitan opera, the New National Theater in Tokyo, and the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires. He has also sung at the prestigious Salzburg Summer Festival, the Spring Festival Tokyo Opera Nomori, as well as a long-standing collaboration with the annual Bayreuth Festival. In May of 2015 at the Wiener Staatsoper, Stephen Gould was honored with the title of Österreichischer Kammersänger. In addition to his operatic work, he maintains a robust concert repertoire.
Stephen Gould performs with conductors such as Daniel Barenboim, Ivor Bolton, Pierre Boulez, Jesus Lopes Cobos, James Conlon, Myung-Whun Chung, Gabriele Ferro, Asher Fisch, Adam Fischer, Daniele Gatti, Valery Gergiev, Hartmut Haenchen, Daniel Harding, Marek Janowski, Philippe Jordan, Daniel Lipton, Fabio Luisi, Zubin Mehta, Ingo Metzmacher, Franz Welser-Möst, Kent Nagano, Andris Nelsons, Seiji Ozawa, Antonio Pappano, Simon Rattle, Donald Runnicles, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Ulf Schirmer, Peter Schneider, Jeffrey Tate, Christian Thielemann, Massimo Zanetti, and David Zinman.
Born in the United States of America, he trained at the New England Conservatory of Music and two years 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. Stephen soon 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. He made his Salzburg Festival debut in 2011, also under maestro Thielemann.