Gene Stenger

Tenor

Hometown: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

 

Praised for “effortlessly mastering the many coloratura embellishments in his arias...” (Bergsträsser Anzeiger), and his sweet vibrancy (Cleveland Plain Dealer), tenor

Gene Stenger (EN) has received both national and international acclaim for his singing. A specialist in the oratorio repertoire of J.S. Bach, and G.F. Handel, Gene sings with elegant conviction, and effortless ability, primarily in his high register. Mr. Stenger recently completed an international tour in England with the Yale Schola Cantorum, and Juilliard 415 Ensemble as the tenor soloist in Beethoven’s Mass in C Major, under the baton of David Hill. Gene’s performance as the tenor soloist included a live international radio broadcast on BBC 3 Radio. Additional recent solo oratorio engagements include the role of the Evangelist, and tenor arias in the complete work of J.S. Bach’s Christmas Oratorio with Colorado Bach Ensemble, title role of Judas Maccabeus in Handel’s Judas Maccabeus directed by David Hill, which was featured on PBS’s program, “Religion and Ethics NewsWeekly,” and tenor soloist in J.S. Bach’s St. John Passion conducted by Masaaki Suzuki at Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Center. In 2012, Mr. Stenger received a personal invitation from Helmuth Rilling to perform in the Junges Stuttgarter Bach Ensemble with the Internationale Bachakademie Stuttgart, and completed a concert tour in Italy. In 2013, Gene returned to the Internationale Bachakademie Stuttgart to perform as the tenor soloist in J.S. Bach’s St. Matthew Passion, and completed an international tour with Maestro Rilling in both Germany and Chile. Mr. Stenger’s performances from both Germany and Chile were featured in a recent documentary film about Helmuth Rilling’s life entitled Ein Leben mit Bach (A Life with Bach).

 

Equally at home in chamber music, Gene has performed with numerous professional ensembles, including the Clarion Society, Vox Humana, the Yale Schola Cantorum, Third Practice, Helmuth Rilling’s Weimarer Bachkantaten-Akademie, and this year, he will be making his debut with The Thirteen Chamber Choir, and the Yale Choral Artists.Originally from Pittsburgh, PA, Gene is a recent graduate of Yale University’s School of Music and the Yale Institute of Sacred Music program, where he studied with renowned tenor James Taylor, and completed a second M.M. degree in Early Music, Oratorio, and Chamber Ensemble. He also holds a M.M. degree in Voice Performance (Opera) from Colorado State University, and a B.M. degree in Voice Performance from Baldwin Wallace University Conservatory of Music.