American mezzo-soprano Janelle DeStefano has been praised for her “magnificently executed vocal cascades” and her “passionate delivery.” She has sung on regional operatic, orchestral and musical theater stages across the United States, performing with Ash Lawn Opera Festival in Virginia, Opera Festival of New Jersey, Westminster Opera Theatre, Shakespeare Santa Cruz, the Lyric Theatre of Santa Cruz, the Jarvis Zarzuela Festival in Napa California, and San Diego Opera. A member of the San Diego Opera Ensemble from 2002-2005, Ms. DeStefano sang the roles of Cinderella in an English adaptation of Rossini's La Cenerentola, and appeared as both Third Lady and Papagena in Mozart's The Magic Flute. Her portrayal of the gypsy, Maria, in La Alegria de la Huerta at the Zarzuela Festival in Napa, California (available on DVD through the Jarvis Conservatory) was hailed as the "pick of the Chueca" by Zarzuela.net. Ms. DeStefano made her San Diego Opera debut as the Second Handmaiden in SDO's critically acclaimed production of Turandot. During San Diego Opera's 2005 International Season she understudied the roles of Dorabella (Cosí fan tutte) and Erika (Vanessa). Recent roles have included Romeo in I Capuletti e i Montecchi, and Mrs. Winemiller in Summer and Smoke. In November 2008, she will be heard in the title role in Britten’s The Rape of Lucretia.
Equally comfortable on the concert stage, Ms. DeStefano has rendered dramatic performances of works such as the Bach Magnificat, the Vivaldi Magnificat, Handel's Messiah, the Mozart Requiem, the Bach B-minor Mass and. Beethoven's Ninth Symphony. She was featured with the Inland Valley Symphony in Mahler’s Fourth Symphony and Mozart’s Ch’io mi scordi te, and performed Eight Poems by Emily Dickinson by Aaron Copland with the Grossmont Symphony. Her recent appearances with the early music ensemble, El Mundo, for the San Diego Early Music Society and the Da Camera Society received critical acclaim.
Ms. DeStefano has won several vocal competitions including the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, San Diego District (2001-02 and 2002-03), the National Association of Teachers of Singing, San Diego (2001) and the Musical Merit Foundation (2000).
In addition to performing, Ms. DeStefano has taught voice for more than a decade at both collegiate and community music schools, as well as in her own private vocal studio in San Diego. Ms. DeStefano earned a Master of Music Degree in Voice Performance and Pedagogy from Westminster Choir College of Rider University, and a Bachelor of Arts in Music, with Porter College Honors, from the University of California at Santa Cruz where she was named Phi Beta Kappa. Ms. DeStefano is currently pursuing a Doctorate of Musical Arts at the USC Thornton School of Music at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. Ms. DeStefano is also an active member of the National Association of Teachers of Singer (NATS) and the American Guild of Musical Artists (AGMA).
Review: San Diego Arts: Sacred Spanish Baroque Music at the San Diego Mission
