STEVEN PAUL SPEARS

Noted for being “most consistently musical, most clear in diction,” possessing a “stunningly beautiful, edgeless tenor” and for “lustrous singing,” tenor Steven Paul Spears has performed with many arts organizations across the United States and Europe.  Specializing in works of the Baroque and Contemporary Periods, Steven’s recent repertoire includes works of Rameau, Cavalli, Monteverdi, Bach and Handel, as well as Britten, Stravinsky, Orff and Ullmann.  Of his singing, reviewers have said Steven brought out “one reason why Bach’s vocal melodies have such complex, searching contours; they’re tracing not just musical thoughts, but also the changing weight and implications of the text,” giving a performance “so true to the words” and of a performance of the Roasted Swan in Orff’s Carmina Burana, one critic wrote that it was “riveting…filled with angst and an overabundance of high notes, Spears dramatized the moment with vocal dexterity and polish.”

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Steven has sung with opera companies in Berlin, St. Louis, Houston, Louisville, Utah, LA, Palm Beach and others.  After beginning his teaching career, Steven's performance focus shifted from opera to primarily concert repertoire.  Performances have taken Steven to a variety of venues in the US and Europe, including down the street to the Fox Valley Symphony, as well as to NYC, Brattleboro, VT, Louisville, Oklahoma City and Flagstaff.

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After receiving degrees in Music from the Juilliard School and the University of Louisville, Steven is now in his 19th year of teaching at Lawrence Conservatory in Appleton; 7th year as director of music at First Presbyterian Church in Neenah, and 33rd year of tutelage under Edith Davis Tidwell.

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Steven's professional associations include the National Association of Teachers of Singing, Early Music America, the American Guild of Organists, the Presbyterian Association of Musicians, the Hymn Society of the US and Canada, as well as the International Hymn Society and the American Choral Directors' Association.