
DEBORAH NANSTEEL
MEZZO-SOPRANO
BIOGRAPHY
“A formidable display of vocal power and dramatic assurance,” mezzo-soprano Deborah Nansteel is posed for international stardom having already performed in almost all of the leading opera companies in the US. She made her début with The Metropolitan Opera as Alisa in Lucia di Lammermoor, her début with the Lyric Opera of Chicago as Gertrude in Roméo et Juliette, her Carnegie Hall début in Mozart’s Coronation Mass, and her New York Philharmonic début alongside Eric Owens in In Their Footsteps: Great African American Singers and Their Legacy. She performed the role of Mother in the World Première of Blind Injustice with Cincinnati Opera which will soon be commercially released on the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra’s Fanfare Cincinnati label, as well as participated in Glimmerglass Opera Festival’s digital production of Jungle Book as Raksha.
This season, Ms. Nansteel will return to the Metropolitan Opera as Annina in La Traviata and for their concert tour of Otello, and will have her house début with the San Francisco Opera in their productions of Eugene Onegin and Dialogues of the Carmelites. Nansteel will also début the role of Amneris in Aida for both Opera Grand Rapids and Finger Lakes Opera, perform Gertrude in Hansel & Gretel for New Orleans Opera, sing Verdi’s Requiem for Orchestra Iowa, and perform the role of Mother Abbess in Suor Angelica for Opera Omaha. [read more...]
CRITICAL ACCLAIM
"...provides intense focus and sharp characterization..." – Opera News
Cold Mountain – “Deborah Nansteel provides intense focus and sharp characterization as the runaway slave who frees Inman from a chain gang.”
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"...a decorous presence and an emotive vibrato...” – The New York Times
In Their Footsteps – “In a Mahler song and the spiritual ‘On Ma Journey Now,’ the mezzo-soprano Deborah Nansteel had a decorous presence and an emotive vibrato.”
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"...a rising singer to watch...” – Washington Classical Review
La fille du régiment – “In her opening aria, Nansteel’s voice had presence and beauty from the bottom range to a steely top, once again proving her to be a rising singer to watch.”
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"...a formidable display of vocal power..." – San Francisco Gate
Don Carlo – “…mezzo-soprano Deborah Nansteel, in a formidable display of vocal power and dramatic assurance as Princess Eboli.”
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"...rich mezzo tone and touchingly sympathetic..." – Chicago Classical Review
Madama Butterfly – “Deborah Nansteel was a wonderful Suzuki, singing with rich mezzo tone and touchingly sympathetic, reflecting every twist and turn of the plot in her movements and facial expressions.”
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"...powerhouse mezzo-soprano..." – Washington Classical Review
Faust – “As Dame Marthe, Deborah Nansteel deployed a powerhouse mezzo-soprano to provide solidity in the Act III quartet, also adding much-needed humor in her amorous pursuit of Méphistophélès.”