Stephen Hegedus

Hailed as a singer possessing “. . . an instrument of rare beauty, majestic and commanding from the bottom of his range to the top” (Ottawa Citizen), bass-baritone Stephen Hegedus balances a busy schedule of both operatic and oratorio repertoire. This season, Hegedus returns to Pacific Opera Victoria for Mozart’s La clemenza di Tito and Opera Atelier for Charpentier’s David et Jonathan. On the concert stage, he sees reengagements with the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra and Les Violons du Roy for the works of Mozart and Bach.

Recent engagements include Handel’s Messiah with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Bach’s B Minor Mass with the Vancouver Bach Choir, and appearances with the Orchestre symphonique de Trois-Rivières for both Puccini’s La bohème and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9. Especially appreciated for his performance in Messiah, Stephen has been heard in Handel’s masterpiece with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, the Minnesota Orchestra, the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal, the Seattle Symphony, the Houston Symphony, the San Antonio Symphony, the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra, the Vancouver Chamber Choir, the Naples Philharmonic, the Victoria Symphony, and the Orchestre Métropolitain under the baton of Yannick Nézet-Séguin.

Stephen appeared in both Opera Atelier and Manitoba Opera’s productions of Mozart’s Don Giovanni in the role of Leporello. Further opera credits include Le comte Ory (Governor) and La Cenerentola (Alidoro) for Edmonton Opera, Carmen (Zuniga) and Don Giovanni (Masetto) for l’Opéra de Montréal, La bohème (Colline) and A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Theseus) for Pacific Opera Victoria, and L’elisir d’amore (Dulcamara) for Vancouver Opera. A frequent collaborator with Opera Atelier, he appeared as the Count in Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro, Neptune/Time in Monteverdi’s The Return of Ulysses, Créon in Cherubini’s Medée in both Toronto and Versailles, and Lully’s Armide in co-production with Opera Columbus and Versailles.

A prize winner at the Oratorio Society of New York’s Lyndon Woodside Oratorio-Solo Competition, his extensive concert experience includes appearances with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra and the Seattle Symphony (Mozart’s Requiem), the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra (Haydn’s The Creation), the Grant Park Festival (Dvorak’s The Spectre’s Bride, Brahms’ Requiem), the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal (Bernstein’s A Quiet Place), the Victoria Symphony (Bach’s Weihnachts-Oratorium), the Orchestre symphonique de Québec (Bach’s Magnificat and Bruckner’s Te Deum), and the Aldeburgh Festival (Bach’s Mass in B minor ). A finalist in the prestigious Operalia competition, Stephen made his Carnegie Hall debut singing Bach’s Mass in B minor with the Oratorio Society of New York and later returned for Handel’s Messiah.