“Steven Cole delivered a Sporting Life of epic proportions, not just in characterizations and textual detail, but exurberent in dance and mime”
Charles Parson, OPERA, December 2012, "Porgy and Bess," Cincinnati Opera
Internationally acclaimed American character tenor Steven Cole made his professional debut singing Monsieur Triquet in 'Eugene Onegin' with the Boston Symphony under Seiji Ozawa at Tanglewood. Specializing in character tenor roles, he has a remarkably varied repertoire with more than 70 roles from Monteverdi to Ligeti.
Mr. Cole’s recent seasons exemplify his extraordinary versatility: Don Buscone in ‘Veremonda’ with the Spoleto Festival USA, performances as the narrator in a world premiere of Chris Theofanidis’s ‘Creation/Creator’ with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, Goro in ‘Madama Butterfly’ and the ‘Abbé de Chazeuil’ in Adriana Lecouvreur with Opéra de Nice, Nick in ‘La Fanciulla...
“Steven Cole contributed four incredibly inventive, appealingly sung comprimario turns as Andreas, Cochenille, Frantz, and Pittichinnacio. In fact I have never seen anyone do these better, making Mr.Cole a wonderful discovery”
James Sohre, www.operatoday.com, June 4, 2012, "The Tales of Hoffman," Canadian Opera Company, Toronto.
Portraying the jester Don Buscone with riotous physicality that encompassed cartwheels and bounding about the stage with the spryness of an Olympic hurdler, tenor Steven Cole provided levity whenever dramatic situations seemed destined for irreversible calamity. In the first part of the opera, he sang 'Ala, ala, o Guerrieri, fate largo, o Soldati' with the counterfeit pomposity of a man for whom war is a tremendous inconvenience. Cole’s phrasing of 'Il giorno a caccia di selvaggie belve il nostro re sen va' revealed that the depths of his artistry extend far beyond comedy. The self-important glee with which he delivered 'Da caccia il re tornò di cornuti animali' to the audience in the second part, relaying the report of Veremonda’s dalliance with Delio, was boisterous, but the foremost joy of his performance was the quality of his singing. His bright timbre allied with technical acumen that failed him in none of the difficulties of his music, the sheer mirth with which Cole enacted Don Buscone’s shenanigans was infectious.
Joseph Newsome, www.voix-des-arts.com, June 8, 2015, “Veremonda, l’amazzone di Aragona,” Spoleto Festival USA
