American mezzo‐Soprano STEPHANIE HOUTZEEL was born in Kassel, Germany and grew up near Boston. She studied Political Science and French at Middlebury College before obtaining her Masters Degree at the Juilliard School. She won top honors at the International Queen Elisabeth of Belgium Competition and at the Juilliard Vocal Arts Debut Competition. She has been a member of the Vienna State Opera ensemble since 2010 where she has sung a wide variety of leading roles including Octavian, der Komponist, Dorabella, Orlofsky, Nicklausse, Kreusa (in Reimann’s Medea) and Jenny Hill in Mahagonny. In 2015 she created the role of Miranda in the Vienna world premiere of Thomas Ades’ The Tempest and in 2016 the role of La Haine in Vienna’s first production of Gluck's Armide conducted by Marc Minkowski. 

Stephanie Houtzeel’s performances in the Strauss repertoire have been heralded around the world. Her most recent appearances as Octavian were opposite Anja Harteros in Vienna, at the Opéra Bastille under Philippe Jordan and at the Kennedy Center with Renée Fleming and Christoph Eschenbach. Nominated one of the best up‐and‐coming singers by OPERNWELT Magazine for her ‘Komponist,’ she has gone on to sing this role under both Sir Jeffrey Tate and Franz Welser-Möst (Vienna), in Zürich under Fabio Luisi and most recently in Tokyo under Marek Janowski.

A personal highlight of the past two seasons has been the title role in Stefan Herheim’s acclaimed production of Xerxes, both at the Komische Oper Berlin and at the Oper Graz, which earned Stephanie a nomination for the Austrian Music and Theatre prize. Further engagements, in roles ranging from Ottavia to Marguerite, Arsace to Charlotte or Idamante to Meg Page, have taken her to such international stages as the Salzburger Festspiele, the Semperoper Dresden, New York City Opera, Opéra de Lyon, the Royal Danish Opera, Theater an der Wien, Opéra National du Rhin, the New Israeli Opera, Teatro Nacional de Sao Carlos Lisbon and the Vlaamse Opera.

Stephanie Houtzeel debuted at the Bayreuther Festspiele in 2016, singing Wellgunde, Waltraute (Walküre) and Second Norn in Wagner’s Ring. She will reprise these roles at the Festival in 2017 as well as sing Venus in a new Bayreuth production of Tannhäuser for children. Along with Komponist and La Haine, current and upcoming roles include Kreusa (Medea), Adelaide, Varvara in Katja Kabanova and Vera in the world premiere of Patchwork, a children's opera commissioned by the Vienna State Opera to be released on DVD. She will also return to the Komische Oper Berlin.

Stephanie Houtzeel has appeared in concert around the world with the Vienna Philharmonic, the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, the Orchestre de la Monnaie, the Bruckner Orchestera, the Norddeutsche Rundfunk Orchestra, Collegium Vocale Gent, Musicians from Marlboro and Great Performers of Lincoln Center. She has collaborated with conductors including Valery Gergiev, Adam Fischer, Dennis Russell Davies, Philippe Jordan, Pinchas Steinberg, Phillippe Herreweghe, Teodor Currentzis, Jérémie Rohrer and Michael Hofstetter. 

Ms. Houtzeel is a regular recording artist. Her 2016 album, Nostalgia (on the Capriccio label), features songs of Mahler, Ives and Ginastera with pianist Charles Spencer and was highlighted by Gramophone Magazine as ‘beautifully judged’ and ‘utterly beguiling.’ She has recorded the title role in Lully’s Armide for Naxos and the title role in von Suppé’s Fatinitza (CPO). She also appears as the alto soloist in Mozart’s Requiem under Teodor Currentzis (Alpha Records).