American mezzo‐Soprano STEPHANIE HOUTZEEL was born in Kassel, Germany and grew up near Boston. She studied Political Science and French at Middlebury College before obtaining her Masters Degree at the Juilliard School. She won top honors at the International Queen Elisabeth of Belgium Competition and at the Juilliard Vocal Arts Debut Competition. She has been a member of the Vienna State Opera ensemble since 2010 where she has sung a wide variety of leading roles including Octavian, der Komponist, Dorabella, Orlofsky, Nicklausse, Kreusa (in Reimann’s Medea) and Jenny Hill in Mahagonny. In 2015 she created the role of Miranda in the Vienna world premiere of Thomas Ades’ The Tempest and in 2016 the role of La Haine in Vienna’s first production of Gluck's Armide conducted by Marc Minkowski.