Soprano Desirée Soteres is equally at home in concert, musical theater and on the operatic stage and has been praised for her superb characterization and powerful vocal ability. Desirée's love for music has taken her across the U.S. and around the world. She comes to Pittsburgh via Memphis, Cincinnati, St. Louis, Portland, New York City, ports around the globe through Cunard Cruise Lines, San José, and Chattanooga.
Soprano Desirée Soteres is equally at home in concert, musical theater and on the operatic stage and has been praised for her superb characterization and powerful vocal ability. Desirée's love for music has taken her across the U.S. and around the world. She comes to Pittsburgh via Memphis, Cincinnati, St. Louis, Portland, New York City, ports around the globe through Cunard Cruise Lines, San José, and Chattanooga.
Most recently, Desirée wrapped filming for the OperaDoc I Hear America Singing with composer Daron Hagen. The live version was produced on May 9, 10 & 11, 2024 at Richard E. Rauh Studio Theatre in Pittsburgh, PA during the filming of the documentary. On October 18 & 19, 2024, she will be seen as The Queen of Elfenland in Matthew Gillespie’s new chamber opera, Thomas the Rhymer.
She's played many venues both traditional and unorthodox. Currently, she can be seen performing in Pittsburgh once a month with Aria412. Desirée especially enjoys new music and has premiered new works with Pittsburgh Festival Opera, Alia Musica and the New Dischord Festival. The most exciting premiere was the title role in Eve Apart by composer Tim Hinck and husband Kip Soteres, which was produced both in Chattanooga and Pittsburgh. Desirée's favorite operatic role is Queen of the Night in The Magic Flute. She has had the pleasure of singing it with Opera San Jose, West Bay Opera, Stockton Opera, Pocket Opera, Undercroft Opera and as a Resident Artist at Portland Opera.
In February 2020, Desirée originated the role of Rosella in the US premiere of The Mother of Fishes by composers Roger Dannenberg and Jorge Sartre conducted by Federico Garcia. She premiered the role of Flora Dart in A New Kind of Fallout by composer Gilda Lyons and playwright Tammy Ryan with the Pittsburgh Festival Opera. That same season she portrayed Joe Boyd in PFO's gender bending Damn Yankees. Other theatrical performances include Roselinda in Die Fledermaus with Undercroft Opera, Despina in Cosi fan tutte with Mission City Opera, Blonde in Abduction from the Seraglio with Pocket Opera, Cunegonde in Candide with Arena Stage in Washington, D.C., and Rosa Bud in The Mystery of Edwin Drood with Chattanooga Theater Center. Desirée has appeared as Abigail in The Crucible, Mabel in The Pirates of Penzance, Zerlina in Don Giovanni, Lucy in Threepenny Opera and Celeste #1 in Sunday in the Park with George.
As a soloist with Pittsburgh's new music ensemble Alia Musica, she premiered Kierkegaard's Pantoum by composer David Lidov, was soprano soloist in Shadow in the Hot Sun by Paris-based composer Nissim Schaul and Al Vacio by composer Federico Garcia, a work she premiered at the inaugural New Dischord Festival in Chattanooga. Desirée created the role of Eve in Eve Apart at the Chattanooga Theater Center and created the role of Pamela in the premier of TOOWHOPERA by composer Sorrel Hays in Rome, GA.
On the concert stage, she performed at Chatham University in the Music for Food concert, Salon on Emerson in a Kurt Weill Salon, the 40th anniversary for Opera Volunteers International in NYC, University of Tennessee at Chattanooga Orchestra, Chattanooga Symphony Orchestra, Chattanooga Bach Choir and CreateHere’s Hops and Opera.
She was a featured performer in a series of concerts in Europe, South America, and Australia aboard Cunard’s Vistafjord and Royal Viking Sun.
Desirée received her MM in vocal performance from the University of
Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, her BA in music from Rhodes College in Memphis and studied in Austria.
She's played many venues both traditional and unorthodox. Currently, she can be seen performing in Pittsburgh once a month with Aria412. Desirée especially enjoys new music and has premiered new works with Pittsburgh Festival Opera, Alia Musica and the New Dischord Festival. The most exciting premiere was the title role in Eve Apart by composer Tim Hinck and husband Kip Soteres, which was produced both in Chattanooga and Pittsburgh. Desirée's favorite operatic role is Queen of the Night in The Magic Flute. She has had the pleasure of singing it with Opera San Jose, West Bay Opera, Stockton Opera, Pocket Opera, Undercroft Opera and as a Resident Artist at Portland Opera.
In February 2020, Desirée originated the role of Rosella in the US premiere of The Mother of Fishes by composers Roger Dannenberg and Jorge Sartre conducted by Federico Garcia. She premiered the role of Flora Dart in A New Kind of Fallout by composer Gilda Lyons and playwright Tammy Ryan with the Pittsburgh Festival Opera. That same season she portrayed Joe Boyd in PFO's gender bending Damn Yankees. Other theatrical performances include Roselinda in Die Fledermaus with Undercroft Opera, Despina in Cosi fan tutte with Mission City Opera, Blonde in Abduction from the Seraglio with Pocket Opera, Cunegonde in Candide with Arena Stage in Washington, D.C., and Rosa Bud in The Mystery of Edwin Drood with Chattanooga Theater Center. Desirée has appeared as Abigail in The Crucible, Mabel in The Pirates of Penzance, Zerlina in Don Giovanni, Lucy in Threepenny Opera and Celeste #1 in Sunday in the Park with George.
As a soloist with Pittsburgh's new music ensemble Alia Musica, she premiered Kierkegaard's Pantoum by composer David Lidov, was soprano soloist in Shadow in the Hot Sun by Paris-based composer Nissim Schaul and Al Vacio by composer Federico Garcia, a work she premiered at the inaugural New Dischord Festival in Chattanooga. Desirée created the role of Eve in Eve Apart at the Chattanooga Theater Center and created the role of Pamela in the premier of TOOWHOPERA by composer Sorrel Hays in Rome, GA.
On the concert stage, she performed at Chatham University in the Music for Food concert, Salon on Emerson in a Kurt Weill Salon, the 40th anniversary for Opera Volunteers International in NYC, University of Tennessee at Chattanooga Orchestra, Chattanooga Symphony Orchestra, Chattanooga Bach Choir and CreateHere’s Hops and Opera.
She was a featured performer in a series of concerts in Europe, South America, and Australia aboard Cunard’s Vistafjord and Royal Viking Sun.
Desirée received her MM in vocal performance from the University of
Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, her BA in music from Rhodes College in Memphis and studied in Austria.