Portland Chamber Orchestra: Charles Robert Stephens, Bass-Baritone

Mr. Stephens has worked closely with composers in the preparation and performance of new works for the concert hall and the stage, taking part in many premieres at Lincoln Center and throughout the United States. He has also distinguished himself as a Bach and Handel singer, singing Messiah and the great cantatas and passions each year with such ensembles as the New York Collegium, the Maryland Handel Festival, the Fairfield Orchestra, and New York's Sacred Music in a Sacred Space. Mr. Stephens has been invited to perform a wide range of works including Elijah, Bloch's Sacred Service, Carmina Burana, Verdi's Requiem, and Mahler's Songs of a Wayfarer with many orchestras including the Hartford Symphony, Colorado Symphony, North Carolina Symphony, American Classical Orchestra, and the Symphony Orchestras of Montevideo, Uruguay and Mexico.

Since moving to the Pacific Northwest in 2003, Mr. Stephens has sung as guest soloist with most of the areas orchestras and opera companies including the Tacoma Opera, Seattle Opera Previews, Oregon East Symphony, Orchestra Seattle, Walla Walla Symphony, Bellevue Philharmonic, Bremerton Symphony, and numerous choral societies in venues such as Benoroya Hall and Seattle's Town Hall. Recent performances have taken him to New Orleans, San Francisco and New York City in concert and opera.

Upcoming concerts include the Mozart Requiem with the Boise Philharmonic, the title role in Elijah with the Portland Chamber Orchestra, Brahms Requiem at the Spoletto festival, Messiah with the Portland Baroque Orchestra, Helena Symphony and Bellevue Philharmonic and Vaughan Williams' Sea Symphony with the Tacoma Symphony.