Biography
For over 40 years Denise Stookesberry has been and continues to be an active singer, choral director, and private voice teacher. She holds a Master’s degree in Vocal Performance from Washington University in St. Louis, where she also served as a faculty member, and a Bachelor's degree from St. Louis University.
Mrs. Stookesberry has been featured in a solo recital at the Tavern of Fine Arts in St. Louis, the Peak to Peak Concert Series in Estes Park, and the Estes Park Performance Park Concert series. Highlights on the operatic stage include roles with Opera Theater of St. Louis, Pensacola Opera in Florida, Opera Unlimited, Ohio Light Opera in Wooster, OH, Union Avenue Opera in St. Louis, St. Louis’s MUNY, the oldest outdoor musical theater in the country, and solos with the Estes Park Oratorio Society in Colorado. In addition, Mrs. Stookesberry has been a vital member of the St. Louis Symphony Chorus for many years as a section leader and soloist in performances with the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra under the batons of world-renowned conductors Leonard Slatkin and David Robertson.
Mrs. Stookesberry was a semi-finalist in the International Opera Singers Competition, sponsored by the Center for Contemporary Opera in New York, and a finalist for the Frederick Schorr Memorial Performance Prize at Opera Lenawee in Michigan. She was voted Best Actress in a community theater production by the Hawthorne Players in St. Louis. Under Mrs. Stookesberry’s direction and leadership, her choirs have performed at the famous Carnegie Hall in New York City, in concert halls throughout Austria, they have received superior ratings in country-wide competitions, and have been recognized by the Governor of Missouri for their contribution to the arts. She has directed over a dozen musical theater productions for high school and community theaters.
Mrs. Stookesberry's vocal students have sung in touring Broadway companies, community theaters, professional choruses, and have earned vocal scholarships to Pennsylvania State University, Indiana University, AMDA, and New York University, among others. Former students include businessmen, teacher, doctors, engineers, high school students, and community chorus and church choir singers. She has helped many singers from all levels of experience attain better singing technique.
Mrs. Stookesberry is a member of the National Association of Teachers of Singing and the American Choral Directors Association.