Stephen Pitters
Contributor
Dr. Stephen Pitters is a multi-hyphenate countertenor, vocal pedagogue, and dedicated educator based in Los Angeles, California. Since 2023, Dr. Pitters has served as Adjunct Professor of Musical Theatre Voice at the AMDA College of the Performing Arts in Hollywood, where he is a core faculty member of AMDA’s BFA Musical Theatre program. He is profoundly committed to the liberation of voice and self, and he considers teaching to be the most noble profession.
Some of Dr. Pitters’ research interests include: genre-expansive and psychological applications of science-informed voice pedagogy practices; critical inquiry in the voice studio; trauma-informed voice pedagogy; anthropological roots of the human voice; ethics and moral philosophy; decoloniality in music education; and countertenor voice pedagogy. Dr. Pitters served as the Research Coordinator & Voice Teacher for the “Here, My Voice” clinical research study at the University of Southern California; this longitudinal study investigated voice training with Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing individuals who utilized Cochlear implants and hearing aids, with special emphases on exploring emotional expression and resilience, enhancing vocal pedagogy for diverse hearing experiences, and improving hearing assistive technology for musical purposes. Awarded with a major USC Arts in Action grant, the study united a team of cross-disciplinary collaborators from the USC Keck School of Medicine, USC School of Cinematic Arts, USC Thornton School of Music, and USC Kaufman School of Dance.
Dr. Pitters has been hailed as an “exceptional young countertenor” by the South Florida Classical Review. Last season, Dr. Pitters made his LA Opera debut in the principal role of the “Angel” in Carla Lucero’s Las tres mujeres de Jerusalén (The Three Women of Jerusalem) under the baton of James Conlon, and he will reprise this role with LA Opera in April 2027. Dr. Pitters recently debuted with the Great Lakes Chamber Orchestra in a full program of sacred works for the countertenor voice, with a world premiere commission by David Lockington. Known for his signature roles as the Refugee in Flight and Orfeo in Orfeo ed Euridice, career highlights have brought him to the Palau de las Artes Reina Sofia in Valencia, Spain, the Mozarteum in Salzburg, Austria, the New World Symphony in Miami Beach, and as a Prima Voce Emerging Artist at the Pasadena Conservatory. In the 2025-2026 season, Dr. Pitters was named a Rocky Mountain Region Finalist and Utah District Winner of the Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition. His unique, genre-expansive versatility has led him to perform on the historic 20th season of American Idol and throughout Los Angeles as a member of Tonality, a two-time GRAMMY Award-winning vocal ensemble. Dr. Pitters holds the D.M.A.and M.M. in Vocal Arts degrees from the University of Southern California Thornton School of Music, where he served as a Graduate Teaching Assistant and recipient of the Marilyn Horne Endowed Scholarship in Vocal Arts. He received his B.M. in Vocal Performance degree from the University of Miami Frost School of Music, where he attended on a full-ride Presidential Music Scholarship. (stephenpitters.com)
