Stephanie Manias
soprano
Canadian soprano Stephanie Manias is a rising star of the North American concert stage, known for her lush voice and captivating stage presence. Based in Montreal, she is heard regularly as a soloist and chorister with some of Canada’s most celebrated ensembles, such as the Studio de Musique Ancienne de Montréal (SMAM), la Chapelle de Québec, les Violons du Roy, the Church of St. Andrew and St. Paul (A&P), and l’Orchestre Symphonique de Montreal (OSM). Stephanie is at ease in many styles, eras, and genres of music, and particularly specializes in music of the Renaissance and Baroque periods. A prolific and versatile performer, she has been deemed at turns “angelic” and “fiery” (Montreal Gazette).
Stephanie’s recent performance highlights include a concert of female composers, “l’Italie Baroque au Féminin”, with guest conductor Suzie LeBlanc (SMAM); a “gender-bending” Messiah, singing arias usually sung by tenors (A&P); Richard Strauss’s Deutsche Motette for a cappella 16-part choir and soloists (Musica Orbium); Joby Talbot’s Path of Miracles (Voces Boreales); Haydn’s Nelson Mass (OSM); the Opus-Prize nominated “Visages de Purcell” with Arion Baroque Orchestra (SMAM); and her National Arts Centre debut, singing Monteverdi’s 1610 Vespers with the Royal Winnipeg Ballet (SMAM). Stephanie sings weekly with the Church of St. Andrew and St. Paul, where she has performed as a soloist in various orchestral masterpieces, including Bach’s Passions and Mass in B Minor, Mozart’s Requiem and Great Mass in C, and in contemporary choral works such as Arvo Pärt’s Passio, and David Lang’s Little Matchgirl Passion.
In addition to many live radio broadcasts on the BBC, CBC and Radio-Canada, Stephanie can be heard on recordings on the Atma, Analekta and Naxos labels. Originally from London, Ontario, Stephanie is a graduate of the Voice Performance program at the Schulich School of Music at McGill University, where she studied with Michael McMahon, Valerie Kinslow, and Canadian soprano Joanne Kolomyjec.