1996 was an important year for baritone Stephen Salters. Not only was he a First Place Winner of the 1996 Queen Elizabeth International Competition of Singing, a First Place Winner of the 1996 International Puccini-Licia Albanese Competition, a National Finalist of the 1996 Metropolitan Opera Council Auditions, and a George London Foundation Award recipient in memory of Bruce Yarnell, but, under the direction of Seiji Ozawa, he sang the role of Captain Balstrode in Peter Grimes at Tanglewood, in performances commemorating the 50th anniversary of its American premiere. International recognition quickly followed this success and he was well on his way to becoming one of the most sought-after singers on the operatic and concert scene.

On the opera stage, Stephen Salters has appeared with the National Opera of Paris, Opéra de Nice, Opéra de Rennes, Opéra du Rhin and Opéra de Tour in such productions as Jerome Savary’s Rigoletto, Robert Wilson’s Madame Butterfly, Alfredo Arias’s production of Carmen, Steine Winge’s and Gunther Kramer’s Tristan und Isolde, Francesca Zambello’s Billy Budd, Alain Garichot’s Penelope, Olivier Py’s Der Freischutz as well as Nicholas Hytner’s Giulio Cesare. He has worked with a wide range of opera conductors, including James Conlon, Maurizio Benini, Pinchas Steinberg, Gary Bertini, Ivor Bolton, Martin Isepp, and Robert Spano. In the United States, his roles have included Count Almaviva in Le Nozze di Figaro, Belcore in L’Elisir d’amore, Guglielmo in Cosí fan tutte, Malatesta in Don Pasquale, Silvio in I Pagliacci, and the title role in the world premiere of Elena Ruehr’s Toussaint Before the Spirits.

He has performed concert and operatic repertoire with orchestras including the Baltimore Symphony, the Cleveland Orchestra, the Detroit Symphony, the Handel & Haydn Society, the Houston Symphony, the Indianapolis Symphony, the National Arts Center Orchestra, the Orchestra of St. Luke’s, Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, the Pittsburgh Symphony, the St. Louis Symphony, the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, the San Francisco Symphony, the National Orchestra of Belgium, Noordhollands Philharmonisch Orkest, Orchestre Philharmonique du Luxembourg, Orchestre Royal de Wallonie, the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Collegium Instrumentale Brugense, Nouve Musiche, L’Orchestre Philharmonique de Liege, the Orchester der Beethovenhalle Bonn, The Birmingham City Orchestra and the Tokyo Philharmonic under such conductors as Will Crutchfield, Jane Glover, Keith Lockhart, Bobby McFerrin, Nicholas McGegan, Leonard Slatkin, Robert Spano, and Hugh Wolff. In addition Mr. Salters has sung at leading Festivals worldwide, including Aldeburgh, Banff, Edinburgh, Ravinia, Tanglewood, Vail, and BAM’s Next Wave.

This spring, Mr. Salters triumphed in Mendelssohn's Elijah and the Brahms Requiem. A world premiere of Elena's Ruehr's Toussaint Before the Spirits was met with international critical acclaim as well as sold-out performances and 20 minute standing ovations.

This season, Mr. Salters performs an impressive range of repertoire – Gaspard in Der Freischütz under Christoph Eschenbach at the Ravinia Festival, the Szymanowski Stabat Mater at the Orchestre de Paris (also with Eschenbach), the U.S. Holiday tour with the Boston Pops and Keith Lockhart, and recitals and concert appearances across the United States and in Europe as well as a Faure Requiem. On the opera stage, he will perform Count Almaviva in Le Nozze di Figaro, Melisso in Alcina, Aeneas in Dido and Aeneas, and he will create the role of the Minotaure in Philippe Fenelon's Les Rois for Opera National de Bordeaux.

A celebrated recitalist, known for his musically distinctive and intensely involving performances, Mr. Salters has thrilled and engaged audiences all over the world, including leading venues in New York, Washington D.C., Boston, Cleveland, San Francisco, Milan, Tokyo and throughout Benelux.

Mr. Salters, first prize winner of the Walter W. Naumburg International Competition, has made several CD's. His recordings include a CD of French mélodie, German lieder and spirituals with pianist Shiela Kibbe for Cypres, and Telarc’s award-winning recording of Gluck’s Iphigénie en Tauride. A recording of Elena Ruehr's Toussaint before the Spirits will be released in 2004.

Mr. Salters is a sought-after interpreter and an advocate of ‘New Music’ and often engages composers to write music for him to enrich the vocal repertoire. Some recent collaborations have included the commission of a cycle by William Bolcom, and a song cycle by French composer Pierre Ruscher.