Stephanie Kacoyanis ’05, with her commanding contralto voice, dramatic acting style, and striking bearing, has won Boston Globe accolades for “scorching the stage” in her operatic portrayals. Reviewers describe her powerful tone as “dark,” “majestic,” “imperious,” and “vocally brilliant,” whether she is depicting “bloody” Queen Mary ordering the execution of Lady Jane Grey (Odyssey Opera) or singing an alto solo in Rachmaninoff’s All Night Vigil (Harvard-Radcliffe Collegium Musicum).
“I got hooked on performing musicals as a 7-year-old in a local production of Carousel,” says Stephanie, a native of Wenham, Mass. “It wasn’t until high school that a music teacher said my voice was suited to opera and classical music.”
Stephanie pursued her passion for singing at Wellesley, studying with fellow contralto Marion Dry, music faculty emerita, and at Boston University, where she earned a master’s in voice performance. The contralto voice is the lowest—and rarest—in the female vocal range. Since then, she has distinguished herself in operatic, oratorio, and contemporary repertoire, while working in the insurance industry.
In 2017, Stephanie celebrated her Carnegie Hall debut with the eight-woman Lorelei Ensemble. “Lorelei was founded because of a dearth of virtuosic music for women’s vocal ensembles, especially about subjects other than stereotypically ‘female’ topics,” says Stephanie, a founding member. “Our primary purpose is to expand the repertoire for women’s voices by telling stories that an audience might not expect to hear.”
Lorelei thrives on compositions by living women. For example, Julia Wolfe’s Her Story is a vocal and instrumental powerhouse, co-commissioned for the ensemble by the BSO and other collaborating orchestras. It recreates the struggles of the women’s suffrage and equal rights movements, with the Lorelei women waving placards while singing—even roaring—the words of Abigail Adams and Sojourner Truth (“I am strong!”). Through performing Her Story in premieres with five world-class orchestras, Stephanie has helped highlight “themes that are, sadly, still very relevant,” she says.
“I never expected when I walked into my Lorelei audition that the group would go on to sing with major symphonies,” she says. “But here we are!”
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