Steven Paul Spears
​​​​​​tenor

Steven Paul Spears is noted for being “most consistently musical, most clear in diction,” possessing a “stunningly beautiful, edgeless tenor” and for “lustrous singing.” He has performed with arts organizations across the United States and Europe.  Specializing in works of the Baroque and Contemporary Periods, Steven’s recent repertoire includes of 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.”  Receiving degrees from the University of Louisville (2002) and the Juilliard School (2004), this Fall Steven begins his 16th year of teaching at Lawrence Conservatory in Appleton, WI. He also is Director of Music at First Presbyterian Church of Neenah.