Baritone Emery Stephens is an active performer, voice teacher, and author who performs diverse vocal repertoire encompassing traditional and contemporary, with an emphasis in underrepresented composers and music traditions. His performances have been heard with the Boston Art Song Society, Bridge Chamber Music Festival, Abridged Opera of Ontario, Wilmington Symphony, Arbor Opera Theater, Michigan Philharmonic, Ann Arbor Symphony, Boston Lyric Opera, Opera New England, and the Detroit Jazz Festival in a revival of Dave Brubeck's The Gates of Justice with renowned jazz pianist Jason Moran and his trio, The Bandwagon. He has also sung the baritone solos in True Witness: A Civil Rights Cantata by Jodi Goble and the role of Brother Dosher in the blues opera De Organizer by James P. Johnson and lyricist Langston Hughes, recorded by Naxos Music. As a narrator, he has appeared with the Michigan Philharmonic on The Passion of John Brown by Jesse Ayers and Paddle to the Sea by Andre Meyers, as well as the jazz-inspired premiere of Sweet Music in Harlem by Andy Kirschner with the Ann Arbor Symphony.

The Boston Globe wrote, "As Mel in Michael Tippett's opera, The Knot Garden, Stephens disappeared entirely into his character." As a singing actor, he has worked with innovative stage directors – Simon Target, Elkhanah Pulitzer, Dorothy Danner, Nicolette Molnár, Kay Walker Castaldo, Will Graham, and noted choreographer Bill T. Jones. He was a regional finalist in the Leontyne Price Vocal Arts Competition and has participated in masterclasses with internationally renowned opera professionals such as Nico Castel and Martina Arroyo. Additionally, he sang supporting roles in Monteverdi's L'Orfeo with conductor Andrew Parrott, lutenist Paul O'Dette, and the Boston Early Music Festival Orchestra at Harvard University's Sanders Theatre.

He is a recipient of Minnesota state and regional arts grants, where he enthusiastically advocates for music education and the transformational power of the arts to foster community engagement. As a summer faculty member of the Singing Down the Barriers Institute at the University of Michigan, Dr. Stephens also served as a master teacher for the Hampsong Foundation’s "Song of America" at Carnegie Hall/Weill Music Institute, Fenimore Art Museum in Cooperstown, and the Northwest Museum of Arts and Culture with the Spokane Symphony. His experience as a teaching artist extends to past educational projects with the Handel and Haydn Society, Boston Lyric Opera, and Michigan Opera Theatre (now Detroit Opera).  

He has presented at numerous conferences, including the College Music Society, the International Congress of Voice Teachers, and the African American Art Song Alliance. As co-founder of the "Singing Down the Barriers" project with Dr. Caroline Helton at the University of Michigan, he co-published articles in the Journal of Multicultural Teaching and Learning and the NATS Journal of Singing, as well as a book chapter on African American Art Song in So You Want to Sing Spirituals by Randye Jones. In 2023, he co-authored the book Singing Down the Barriers: A Guide to Centering African American Song for Concert Performers, published by Rowman & Littlefield.

Dr. Stephens, a native of Boston, Massachusetts, holds degrees from Gordon College (BA), Boston University (MM), and the University of Michigan (DMA). Additionally, he studied commercial vocal music techniques with Los Angeles vocal coach Lisa Popeil. Before joining the St. Olaf College music faculty, Dr. Stephens served on the music faculties of the University of North Carolina Wilmington, Eastern Michigan University, Wayne State University, and the University of Arkansas (Little Rock). He is a member of the National Association of Teachers of Singing and the College Music Society.