Mezzo-soprano, Stephanie Sadownik, is a versatile performer, stage director and producer. Known for her charismatic and complex characterizations, she has graced stages across the Southwest and Los Angeles region and has been an Apprentice Artist with Sarasota Opera, PORTopera and a three-time Opera Fellow awardee for the Aspen Opera Center. Selected stage credits include: Marcellina/Le nozze di Figaro, Madame Flora /The Medium, La Zia Principessa /Suor Angelica, Zita/Gianni Schicchi, Mrs. Lovett / Sweeney Todd, Arnalta /L’incoronazione di Poppea and Samira/Ghosts of Versailles, Kate Julian/Owen Wingrave. Performance praise includes her “commandingly serious” La Zia Principessa in Suor Angelica, her “realistic comic relief” as Arnalta in L’incoronazione di Poppea (The Aspen Times), her “magnetic” Mrs. Lovett with “pin-point comedic timing” in Sweeney Todd as well as her “entertaining Samira [in Ghosts of Versailles which] drew laugh after laugh, all the while singing strongly.” (Aspen Times) Her debut with Pacific Opera Project drew praise for her “hilarious and charismatic” Marcellina in Le nozze di Figaro.

As a stage director, Ms. Sadownik has directed the following shows for Arizona State University’s Music Theatre & Opera program: We’ve Got Our Eye on You by Nkeiru Okoye, The Infinite Energy of Ada Lovelace by Kamala Sankaram, Bernstein’s Trouble in Tahiti, a double-bill of Nora at the Altar-Rail & A Hand of Bridge, and original adaptation of Purcell’s The Fairy Queen. This season she directed Albert Herring at the Maryland Opera Studio and the 2023 National Opera Association Chamber Opera Competition Winner Sanctuary and Storm by Tawnie Olsen, composer, and Roberta Baker, librettist. She assistant directed David Paul’s 2020 production of La Bohéme with Arizona Opera. She has also staged Dominic Argento’s “From the Diary of Virginia Woolf,” for Duo au Courant and directed the reading of Laura Kaminsky and Kimberly Reed’s Hometown to the World.

She is the co-founder and Artistic Director of the Arizona Women’s Collaborative, a new works initiative for artists of marginalized genders. The AWC is proud of have premiered 27 new works to date and has an upcoming concert of new music at ASU in February 2024. Find out more information and follow us HERE.

Ms. Sadownik holds a Bachelor of Music, Vocal Performance degree from Indiana University’s Jacob School of Music, graduated from the Maryland Opera Studio at University of Maryland with a Master of Music, Opera Performance and has a D.M.A. in Vocal Performance from Arizona State University, where she is currently a Faculty Associate for the Voice Area.