When Simon Carrington, world-renowned conductor, singer, bassist, educator, and founding member of King’s Singers, heard 19-year-old Stefanie Moore sing, he gave her a CD of the baroque musical ensemble Les Arts Florissants, along with his opinion.
“I think you can do this,” he said, asking her to listen to a track featuring Canadian soprano Suzie LeBlanc. "This could be you." Later referring to Ms. Moore as "The best soprano I have ever worked with,” Carrington mentored her at the University of Kansas for several years, always pushing her to improve.
“Listen more than sing, constantly evaluate, read better, tune better, be as flexible as possible, sing as many styles as you can, regulate that vibrato especially on the cadence and resolution, have a sense of humor and style. He taught me just about everything you could possibly pass on,” she says. Simon Carrington then arranged for her to attend Trinity College of Music in London, where she worked with Stephen Jackson of the BBC Chorus.
With a warm, clear voice that perfectly suits early and baroque music as well as choral ensemble work,Stefanie Moore’s vocal spark and flexibility are accompanied by a musicality, intelligence, and sense of humor that make her performances “standout” (San Antonio Express News), “soothing and lovely” (Austin American Statesman), and “graceful” (Santa Fe New Mexican).
Her London solo debut was a performance of Berlioz’s Nuits D’ete, soon followed by professional engagements as soloist for Haydn’s St. Nicholas Mass and the Mozart Requiem. On her return to the United States, Stefanie began a career as a professional chorister and baroque soloist, working with Craig Hella Johnson and the Grammy award-winning choral group Conspirare, the Grammy-nominated Seraphic Fire, and the Santa Fe Desert Chorale. In 2003, she was a soloist for the 100th Anniversary Stravinsky Celebration performance of the Mass and Cantata at the St. Francis Cathedral in Santa Fe, and was selected as the Victoria Bach “New Young Artist.”
She found inspiration in Craig Hella Johnson, who drew her to Austin and compelled her to stay. “He confounded and confused me,” Moore says, “and then brought me to tears by displaying an utter musical and human vulnerability that I had no idea how to access. It looked less like conducting and more like channeling.”
Stefanie has performed in England, France, Hungary, Canada, and the United States, with The Austin Symphony, The New York Philharmonic, Charm City Baroque, Bach Sinfonia, Washington Bach Chorus, Third Practice, Simon Carrington Chamber Singers, San Antonio Bach, The Texas Early Music Project, AVE of San Francisco, and the California Bach Choir.
Stefanie has sung various recitals, including “An Uneasy Communion: Music of Medieval Spain” at the Museum of Biblical Art in NYC; “Bella e crudele: Songs of Monteverdi and Strozzi” with lutenist John Armato; “Songs of the French and Italian Baroque” with Charm City Baroque; Couperin’s Leçons de ténèbres; and A.Scarlatti’s La Maddalena for the Madeleine Festival in Salt Lake City.
Stefanie has recently moved with her family from Baltimore to Santa Monica, CA.