Stephen Swanson began his professional singing career in 1963 as a chorister at St. Pauls Church (UCC) in Chicago, Illinois. In 1967 he was hired as principal baritone for the Chicago Symphony Orchestra (CSO) Chorus under the direction of Margaret Hillis. After graduating from college, he became the go-to baritone soloist for oratorio performances by amateur choirs throughout Chicagoland, as well as a featured soloist for the CSO under George Solti, Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos and Margaret Hillis. In 1975, Swanson moved to Switzerland to participate in the International Opera Studio at the Zurich Opera. For the next eighteen years he was resident baritone in the municipal opera houses in Kaiserslautern and Passau, Germany. His final years in Europe concluded with an international tour as the Emperor in the Holocaust opera Der Kaiser von Atlantis by Viktor Ullmann. Swanson joined the faculty of The University of Iowa in 1994. Visit www.stephenswansonbaritone.com to learn more.

Stephen Swanson and David Gompper toured extensively with two different recitals which were released in compact disc format by Albany Records.

Was my Brother in the Battle? SONGS OF WAR (TROY 1056) was created as Steve’s personal protest to Operation Iraqi Freedom, launched by the United States on March 20, 2003. The songs are “about the individuals involved in America’s historic military conflicts, their friends, and their families – harsh, ironic, funny, patriotic, poignant, disturbing – images of America at war.”

Animal Songs: Bestiaries in English, French, & German (TROY1365) features a song cycle composed for the occasion by David Gompper to words by University of Iowa emeritus professor and former Iowa Poet Laureate Marvin Bell. The program also includes songs about animals by Maurice Ravel, Max Reger, and the cabaret duo Flanders & Swann.