Stephen Cunningham
Bass-Baritone
A native of Corpus Christi, TX, Stephen serves on faculty at Valley City State University as Assistant Professor of Voice and Director of the Opera Ensemble. He has performed lead roles with Minnesota Opera, Florentine Opera, La Musica Lirica, Opera Orvieto, Journey North Opera Company, the Kurt Weill Honorarium, Twin Cities Community Outreach Opera, Mill City Summer Opera, the University of Minnesota Opera Program, Oklahoma State University Opera Program, and the University of North Texas Opera Program. He has also performed as soloist with Kenwood Symphony Orchestra, St. Rita Catholic Church Performance Series, Graceland University, Valley City State, and the University of Minnesota Summer Community Choir.
In the summer of 2024, Stephen performed the role of Bartolo in Le Nozze di Figaro in Novafeltria, Italy, with La Musica Lirica, as well as stage directed the program's opera scenes. Over the last four years, he has served on the faculty at La Musica Lirica and has performed the title roles Falstaff and Gianni Schicchi, as well as Il Commendatore in Don Giovanni, Benoît in La Bohème, and Don Magnifico in La Cenerentola. Stephen premiered the roles of Prince Abdul and The Captain in Sister Carrie with Florentine Opera.
Additional roles include The Bonze in Madama Butterfly, Jimmy in Mahagonny Songspiel with the University of Minnesota, Don Annibale in Il Campanello, Secretary of Defense in The Manchurian Candidate, Escamillo in Carmen, Bottom in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Don Alfonso in Così fan tutte, and Il Commendatore in Don Giovanni, as well as the title roles in Gianni Schicchi and Le Nozze di Figaro.
Stephen was a young artist with Mill City Summer Opera, where he understudied the roles of Scarpia in Tosca and Sulpice and Hortensius in La Fille du Régiment. He has workshopped numerous new operas, including The Shining, The Manchurian Candidate, and Doubt with Minnesota Opera, as well as Sister Carrie with Florentine Opera.
Stephen has also worked with numerous choral and orchestral ensembles. He has sung the baritone solo in Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony with Kenwood Symphony Orchestra and Sonomento Choral Ensemble in Minneapolis, MN, and has performed a number of romantic arias with the Linden Hills Chamber Orchestra. Stephen also performed in a Pushkin and Music concert for the Russian Seasons Society of Minnesota.
He has served as soloist with many universities, performing under the direction of Dr. Kathy Romey, Dr. Matthew Mehaffey, Dr. Z. Randall Stroope, Dr. John C. Seesholtz, Dr. Jerry McCoy, and Dr. Alan McClung. In 2009, Stephen “laid down the law as the ghost of Samuel” (Dallas Morning News, Cantrell) in Handel’s Saul with the University of North Texas ensembles under the direction of Graeme Jenkins.
Stephen holds a Doctor of Musical Arts (DMA) from the University of Minnesota, a Master of Music (MM) in Performance and Pedagogy from Oklahoma State University, and a Bachelor of Musical Arts (BMA) from the University of North Texas.
