Christine Steyer

I’m a soprano, teacher, producer, and librettist, and I’ve been lucky enough to make a living doing what I love.

I’ve performed in more than 40 productions with Lyric Opera of Chicago and currently serve as Artistic Director of Bellissima Opera, where I’m especially passionate about creating and championing new works.

I was honored to receive The American Prize for Outstanding Contributions to the Arts in 2020 and a 2026 Illinois Creative Accelerator Grant.

I also teach voice at Concordia University and music at Ascension in Oak Park, where I get to share my love of music with the next generation.

I have degrees in Studio Art and Vocal Performance, which probably explains why I’ve never been able to choose between music and art!

Outside of work, I love traveling, making music with interesting and creative people, spending time with my dogs, and taking long walks. I currently live in Oak Park and am very grateful that life has taken me on such an unexpected and wonderful journey.

I have so many wonderful memories of school, but I think what I loved most was simply being there. I loved the old historic building, the big windows, walking to school every day, and the feeling that life was relatively safe and uncomplicated.

I’m especially grateful that we had the opportunity to have majors. I loved being an art major and being able to really focus on one area rather than constantly dabbling in a little bit of everything. I also loved being part of the orchestra and playing cello - I was even the soloist for senior year's concert. I made some truly wonderful friends through both the art and music departments.

Looking back, I realize that many of the things I learned there have stayed with me. My art training taught me to really look at things, while drafting gave me some pretty good organizational skills! Most importantly, the friendships, creativity, and love of learning I found there have continued to be an important part of my life.