Born in Dresden, Stephan was an early winner of the Wigmore Hall International Song Competition. He has given recitals throughout the world, including regular appearances at Wigmore Hall London and the Oxford Lieder Festival, as well as Carnegie Hall New York, Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Vienna Konzerthaus, La Monnaie Brussels, Kuhmo Festival, Santiago de Compostela, BBC Radio 3 and the Vocal Arts Series in Washington with pianists Roger Vignoles, Graham Johnson, Eugene Asti, Simon Lepper, Alexander Schmalcz, Joseph Middleton, Sholto Kynoch and Iain Burnside.
Plans this season and beyond include returning to the Theater an der Wien to sing Sprecher in Die Zauberflöte with René Jacobs & Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin, Elijah at Gloucester Cathedral, Bernstein Songfest with Kristjan Järvi & MDR Sinfonieorchester at the Gewandhaus Leipzig, Bach Cantatas with Nuria Rial & Ensemble Capricornus im Burghof Lörrach, Bach Christmas Oratorio with Vladimir Jurowski and the LPO in London and Paris, as well as recitals at Wigmore Hall and the Oxford Lieder Festival.
Concerts have included Britten War Requiem with Melbourne and Sapporo Symphony Orchestras, Mozart Requiem with Auckland Philharmonic Orchestra and Bernard Labadie, Beethoven Symphony No 9 and Penderecki 3 Chinese Songs with the Ulster Orchestra, Kaija Saariaho The Tempest Songbook with the Scharoun Ensemble, Handel Messiah with San Francisco Symphony Orchestra and the AAM and Richard Egarr, Telemann Brockes Passion with Raphaël Pichon and Ensemble Pygmalion, Mauregato in Schubert Alfonso und Estrella with Salzburg Mozarteum Orchester und Ivor Bolton, Mendelssohn Die erste Walpurgisnacht with Orchestra del Maggio Musicale Firenze, Berlioz L’Enfance du Christ with Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra and Robin Ticciati, Haydn Creation with Iceland Symphony Orchestra and Kammerakademie Potsdam, Haydn Jahreszeiten with Staatskapelle Dresden, Bruckner Requiem with Northern Sinfonia, and regular appearances with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra.
Stephan has sung Bach Cantatas with Sir John Eliot Gardiner as part of the Bach Cantata Pilgrimage and the Passions with the Gabrieli Consort and Paul McCreesh (both recorded for DG). He made his Proms debut in 2002 in St Matthew Passion with Trevor Pinnock and his since sung it with many period and modern orchestras, most recently with the OAE and on a European tour with The Monteverdi Choir and Gardiner (recorded live on SDG).
Opera roles have included Begearss in Milhaud La mère coupable at Theater an der Wien, Golaud Pelléas et Mélisande with English Touring Opera, Bruno in Macmillan Parthenogenesis for ROH Covent Garden, Moritz in Mernier Frühlings Erwachen at Opera National du Rhin, Wolfram Tannhäuser and Papageno Zauberflöte at La Monnaie, and Graf Capriccio in concert at the Edinburgh International Festival.
Stephan was a member of the Dresdner Kreuzchor before studying at the Hochschule der Künste Berlin and the Guildhall School of Music & Drama London.