Stephen Gould (tenor) Obituary

Stephen Gould was an American heldentenor. Stephen Gould died in Chesapeake, Virginia, on September 19, 2023, at age 61.

On September 5, 2023, he disclosed the diagnosis of terminal bile duct carcinoma on his own website.

Stephen Gould was born in the Virginia town of Roanoke. Gould first trained as a baritone at Olivet Nazarene University, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts in 1984.

He studied with John Moriarty at the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston before joining the Lyric Opera of Chicago Centre for American Art.

Stephen Gould performed at the world’s most prestigious opera venues. His repertory included, in addition to several Wagner roles, Paul in Korngold’s Die tote Stadt, which he played at the Vienna State Opera in 2004 and at the Royal Opera House in 2009.

He played Bacchus in Richard Strauss’s Ariadne auf Naxos, the main character in Britten’s Peter Grimes, the Emperor in Strauss’s Die Frau ohne Schatten, Verdi’s Otello, Aeneas in Berlioz’s Les Troyens, and McTeague in William Bolkom’s McTeague.

The Associated Press described him as “a naturally engaging performer, unusually athletic and youthful as befits the teenage hero” during his performance of the third “Ring” musical, “Siegfried.”