Steele Fitzwater

Bass-Baritone Steele Fitzwater is a recent Performer’s Diploma and Master’s degree graduate from the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music. No stranger to Cedar Rapids Opera, Steele was most recently seen with the company as the Pirate King in Gilbert & Sullivan's The Pirates of Penzance during summer of 2022. Last season, Steele joined Sarasota Opera as an apprentice artist performing in shows such as Verdi's Ernani and Mozart's Don Giovanni, after which he joined Opera Neo to perform Don Basilio in The Barber of Seville and returned for Opera Neo's summer festival last June-July. During his time at IU, Steele was a frequent performer on stage, having been seen in the title role of Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi, Achilla in Handel’s Giulio Cesare, Don Bartolo in Rossini’s The Barber of Seville, and die Zweite Gralsritter in the university’s bicentennial production of Wagner’s Parsifal. Steele's additional training programs include two summers at The Brevard Music Center and one summer as a Studio Artist with Central City Opera, having sung the world premiere role of Louis Cypher in Brevard’s Falling Angel by J. Mark Scearce and in Central City’s acclaimed production of Britten’s Billy Budd. Off-stage, Steele works behind the scenes as a competition manager and coordinator for Schmidt Vocal Arts, a non-profit company devoted to the education and training of young singers.