Biographical resume:

 

Cecelia Stearman, a native of Mississippi, received a Masters Degree in Vocal Performance at Mississippi College, in 1986, where she taught voice before deciding to pursue her career in Europe.  From September of 1990 to March of 2003, Cecelia lived in Frankfurt, Germany and Paris, France respectively.  In Europe some of the roles she sang included:  from Bach, Matthaeus-Passion, Johannes-Passion, Weihnachtsoratorium; from Haendel, The Messiah and Judas Maccabaeus; from Mozart, the Requiem, the Mass in C Minor.  She also sang roles from Vivaldi's Gloria; Rossini's Messe Solennelle; and Bernstein's Mass.   Concerts have included Bach and Mozart solo cantatas; recitals have included extensive German Lieder, "American Music" from musicals to Ned Rorem, and African-American Spirituals which she recorded for German Public Radio in 1999.  Her international career has taken her to 4 continents, numerous countries, and venues like the Uspinov Palace of St. Petersburg Russia, and the Odeon Herod Atticus of Athens, Greece.  In 2000 Cecelia co-founded and directed of the 85-voice Emmanuel Gospel Choir, of Rueil-Malmaison (France), for which she received the medaille de ville of that historic city.  She now resides in Kirkwood, MO.  She is cast as Prince Orlofsky in Lyrico’s upcoming Die Fledermaus (Sheldon) and as the Sorceress in Union Avenue Opera Theater’s production of Dido and Aeneas in July. 

 

 

Selected Reviews: 

 

“Dido and Aneas” in St. Louis (Union Avenue – see pics):

“Mezzo-soprano Cecilia Stearman's elegant (bad hair notwithstanding) Sorceress was a glam goth, presiding with serene wickedness over

the cackling and campy antics of First Witch Victoria Carmichael and Second Witch Deborah Stinson.”

From St. Louis Post-Dispatch, June 24, 2004 (Sarah B. Miller)

 

“The Messiah” in Jackson, MS:

“It was alto soloist Cecelia Stearman, a Jackson native who lives in Paris, France, who was spellbinding.  Her voice was rich, dark, and liquid.  A pure alto sound, such as hers is rarely heard in this small city.  Her performance tonight was truly a gift.” 

From The Clarion Ledger, Saturday, December 6, 1997

 

“The concert ended very positively with Cecelia Stearman...  a noteworthy, expressive singer, it was as if Schumann’s “Erstes Gruen” and “In der Ferne” had been written for her. The brilliance in her voice was also remarkably demonstrated as she sang the Silcher-Lieder.”  (translated from the original German text)

From Die Limburgere Zeitung, May 10, 1994

 

Cecelia has a “charming timbre, colored with a bit of melancholy” (translated from the original German text)

From Neue Presse, June 6, 1992

 

The concert ended “hymn-like” with the “Kantata-Fragment ‘Dir, Seele des Weltalls’”; with radiance, Cecelia Stearman delivered this edifying solo.  (translated from the original German text)

From Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Tuesday, July 16, 1991