Biography
The Ukrainian-American soprano Stefania Dovhan was born in Kyiv, Ukraine. At the age of five, Dovhan began taking piano lessons, and sang in the Youth Choir at the Kyiv State Conservatory. She began her formal vocal training in the USA at the Baltimore School for the Arts with Joice Hubbard. Miss Dovhan holds degrees from the University of Maryland College Park (Martha Randall - vocal coach) and the Augsburg Academy of Music in Germany (Prof. Dr. Jan Hammar - vocal coach).
Stefania Dovhan is a recipient of numerous Performing Arts Scholarships and awards: the winner of the local and regional National Association of Teachers of Singing competitions; the Gold Medalist in the year 2000 Rosa Ponselle “Young Classical Singers” competition; third prize winner in the International Vocal Competition for Operatic Artists “Puldin 2002” in Bulgaria.
In the summer 2002 Miss Dovhan participated in the University of Miami in Salzburg Program where she won the Leopoldskron Competition and participated in a masterclass with Thomas Hampson.
During the 2004/2005 season Dovhan was a member of the International Opera Studio in Nuremberg and since 2005 she has been engaged at the Theater Hagen, Germany, where she is critically acclaimed for such roles as Pamina in Mozart’s “Die Zauberflöte,” Nanetta in Verdi’s “Falstaff,” Olympia in Offenbach’s “Les Contes d’Hoffmann,” Adina in Donizetti’s “L’Elisir d’Amore,” Cleopatra in Handel’s “Giulio Cesare” and others.
In 2007 Stefania Dovhan won the first prize in the Emmerich Smola Competition – one of the highest prizes for young singers in Europe. In 2006 she was the finalist of both the Hans Gabor Belvedere, International Singing Competition in Vienna, Austria and the Alexander Girardi International Singing Competition in Coburg (Germany).
In July of 2007 Stefania Dovhan was the finalist of the Placido Domingo Operalia Competition in Paris.
Miss Dovhan is an avid recitalist and has given solo recitals in New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington DC, Salzburg (Austria), Augsburg (Germany), and Kyiv (Ukraine).