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Emily Stauch, soprano
Soprano Emily Stauch has been described as having a voice which is versatile “...huge energy and smooth high notes...” and expressive “...reflecting light in the music of Mozart...” and “...accomplishing coloration with such aplomb that it appeared to be effortless.” In recital performances she has “...shown the intimacy and conversational quality of art song...” and her operatic interpretations have revealed “...the rich and full beauty of the voice.”
Ms. Stauch has performed and studied in the U.S. and in Europe in opera, oratorio, recitals and chamber music. She has been a Resident Opera Artist with Virginia Opera and Virginia Opera Education Program, and has performed as a featured soloist with Virginia Symphony, Virginia Symphony Chorus, TodiMusicFest (VA), Norfolk Chamber Consort (VA), Schola Cantorum (VA), Touring Concert Opera Company of NY, Virginia Beach Symphony Orchestra, and University Circle Symphony in Cleveland, Ohio. She has also performed with Opera Cleveland, Virginia Chorale and Virginia Musical Theatre.
Some of Ms. Stauch’s orchestral credits include the Brahms Requiem, Mendelssohn’s Symphony No. 2, “Lobgesang”, Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9, Beethoven’s Egmont (Klärchen), and Poulenc’s Gloria. Ms. Stauch has performed over thirty oratorio roles, ranging from the Bach Magnificat to Dvořák’s Stabat Mater. Her operatic roles include Frasquita and Micaëla in Carmen, the First Lady in Die Zauberflöte, Musetta in La Bohème, and the Countess in Le Nozze di Figaro, among others. She is a frequent concert and recital artist, specializing in repertoire of Nordic composers in original languages.
A native of Washington, D.C., Ms. Stauch has also lived in Naples, Italy, has lived and studied in Munich, Germany, and in Stockholm, Sweden, and graduated cum laude from The Catholic University of America. Her formal music training began at age nine with the study of the piano and her choral/vocal experience began at age sixteen, while she was an exchange student in Sweden. She continued singing under the direction of Dr. Michael Cordovana while at Catholic University. Ms. Stauch has since studied with many other teachers in the U.S., with Dr. Lydia Buschmann in Munich, Germany, and with Jane Eaglen. Ms. Stauch has sung under the direction of truly great conductors such as Robert Shaw and James Conlon, and has performed at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and the Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, in Washington, D.C., and at Carnegie Hall.
A voice and language/diction instructor for many years, Ms. Stauch speaks French, German, Swedish and Italian. She served previously on the voice faculty at Virginia Wesleyan College. She has directed opera and musical theater workshops and has taught master classes and workshops for various schools and choral organizations. As a singing voice specialist, she has worked with patients recovering from vocal fold injuries, surgery and problems related to vocal misuse, in conjunction with laryngologists and speech pathologists.
Ms. Stauch is also a certified yoga instructor. With an interest in positive psychology, she is intent on sharing the positive energy of yoga and general yogic philosophy with students to help them manage stress, reduce performance anxiety and maximize performance potential. Her Let Your Yoga Dance® program was part of the University of Miami/Frost School of Music’s summer program in Salzburg, Austria in 2016. Ms. Stauch specializes in helping performing artists and public speakers manage stress and anxiety. She has taught workshops in Managing Performance Stress and Anxiety for over 20 years, and she worked with this topic when it was still in its infancy. She has since added Voice Yoga® (combination of systematic vocal technique, including elements such as breath work, pre-phonatory preparation, coordinated onset and release, resonance, sustaining pitch, etc. with the principles of yoga and mindfulness to connect the voice to the core of the body and the body’s energy centers), Yoga, and Meditation to her teaching tools and enjoys seeing her students benefit from those as well. Ms. Stauch is a caring and supportive teacher, intent on bringing positive psychology to the field of voice instruction and to all who love to sing. Ms. Stauch is a member of the voice faculty at the Cleveland Institute of Music and maintains a private studio. She offers virtual and onsite coaching and consultation and can be reached at emiliastauch@gmail.com.