Hailed for his expressive voice, both full and nuanced with brassy highs, tenor Steeve Michaud has a brilliant lyrical career which was recently recognized by the Prix du Jeune Public at the 26th Clermont-Ferrand International Competition in France (2019).

 

A sought-after performer of the Canadian operatic scene, since his debut in La Traviata at the Opéra de Montréal, Steeve has quickly become one of the most talented heroic tenors of his generation. Particularly distinguished by a personal signature of the romantic pediod roles, especially Don Jose (Carmen), Hoffmann (Tales of Hoffmann), Samson (Samson et Dalila), the Duke of Mantua (Rigoletto), Rinuccio (Gianni Schicchi), Pinkerton (Madama Butterfly), Cavaradossi (Tosca) and Canio (I Pagliacci).

 

An artist with a "captivating charisma" combining a "superb phrasing art with remarkable musicality", the tenor is the recipient of several awards and distinctions. Steeve was awarded second place at the prestigious Caruso International Competition (2011) and is a Fellow of the Jeunesses Musicales of Canada Foundation (2015) and the Arts, Letters and Culture Foundation (2017-2018). Named, among others, the winner of the Culture Outaouais Prix de la relève Award (2009) and Jeunes Ambassadeurs Lyriques (2005), Steeve was finalist at the Puccini International Competition (2009).

 

During the 2019-2020 season, Steeve will continue the tour of his recital L'Ora Squisita (The Exquisite Hour) and will take over the role of Hoffmann, whose performance was hailed by critics. This time, it is for the Opéra de Chicoutimi (SALR) that he will lend his voice in an original production under the musical direction of Jean-Philippe Tremblay and staged by Étienne Cousineau. Subsequently, Steeve will be a soloist at the BMO Cabaret in Ste-Thérèse and then at the Odyssey Opera Gala at La Maison de la culture de Gatineau.

 

Once again reinvited to the Opéra de Québec, it is in the role of Alfred, a voice teacher, of Strauss II's Die Fledermaus, that he will join the cast in a staging by Alain Gauthier. On the concert’s scene, he will be soloists of the Orchestre Classique de Montreal under the direction of Boris Brott performing Beethoven's 9th Symphony at the Maison Symphonique and will then collaborate with the Montreal Classical Choir under the direction of Louis Lavigueur performing Stabat Mater by Antonin Dvorak as a soloist still at the Maison Symphonique. 

 

Over the years, the young Quebec tenor has been heard in a number of key masterworks of the concert repertoire including Mozart's Requiem and Messe in C, Handel's Messiah, Beethoven’s Missa solemnis and Oratorio Christus am Ölbergue, Rossini's Stabat Mater, Verdi's Requiem, Kodaly's Te Deum, Dubois’s oratorios The Seven Last Words of Christ as well as Le Paradis Perdu, Puccini's Missa di Gloria and many other works. His participation in Wagner's Das Rheingold production at the Opéra de Montréal, his star-rated performance as Ismaele in Nabucco at the Opéra de Québec, will also be remembered. His « Spectacular » Duke of Mantua, his Rinuccio "using fully a beautiful voice of warm lirico-spinto, flexible with trumpet highs", as his Cavaradossi interpreted "with a flamboyance that captivated at every moment."

 

At the turn of a burgeoning career that has already led him to sing across Canada, in the United States as well as in China, Steeve also performed at Teatro La Fenice in Osimo, Italy as well as in Tuscany, Umbria, Rome, Milan and touring two times in Sicily. Similarly, it has appeared on several stages in France and recently marked a new step in its development by concluding a new collaboration to release a new album Fall 2020.

 

Turning gradually to the heavier repertoire of Faust (Berlioz), Turiddu, Radames, Calaf, Otello and Siegmund (Die Walküre), in recent years Steeve has worked with several opera houses and symphonic orchestras in Canada, including the Opera de Quebec, the Opéra de Montréal, the Calgary Opera, Opera Kelowna, the Hamilton Opera, Opera Ontario, Opera Pellegrini, the Opera de Rimouski, the Altamura Opera Festival, the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal, the Orchestre Metropolitan, the Sinfonia de Lanaudière and many others. Steeve sang under the direction of renowned conductors including Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Giuseppe Grazioli, Joseph Rescigno, Charles Dutoit, Alfredo Silipigni, Jacques Lacombe, Bernard Labadie, Michael Christie, Jean-Marie Zeitouni, Louis Lavigueur and Miklós Takács; He has also collaborated with several renowned directors such as Michael Cavanagh, Renaud Doucet, Alain Gauthier, Pierre Boileau, Brian Staufenbiel and Bernard Uzan to name a few. 

 

Initially trained in piano and organ, Steeve added the harp, choral and orchestral direction to his voice training. An alumna of the Atelier Lyrique (YAP) of the Opéra de Montréal, Steeve holds a master's degree from the Université de Montreal, graduated from the Nice Academy, was a trainee at the International Vocal Art Institute before specializing in New York with coaches from the Juilliard School of Music and the Metropolitan Opera. He is currently accompanied in his development by Raphael Sikorski in Paris.

 

It was as a consultant, then designer, artistic and musical director that he was hired by a lyrical event production organization before launching himself as an independent producer. Attached to vocal education and its transmission, psychology and singing pedagogy, Steeve also teaches at his studio while maintaining a very active career.