[1] Stern progressed from small character parts to the lyric tenor roles of Don Ottavio, Belmonte, The Duke in Rigoletto, Roméo, Rodolfo, Pinkerton, and Cavaradossi.
While at Eastman School of Music in Rochester NY Stern married fellow vocal student Barbara Cagnazzo, an aspiring soul singer.
During and after the Korean War, when he was drafted into the U.S. Army and stationed in Germany, On returning to the U.S., he continued his studies at the Eastman School of Music During his 5 years in Rochester, NY Stern became a father to 2 of his 4 children.
[3] He also won the "You Can Be a Star Series" Contest sponsored by WHAM-TV in Rochester,[citation needed] whose prize was an automobile, a screen test in Hollywood, and the opportunity to meet celebrity personalities Jack Benny, Jimmy Durante and Betty White.
Stern received a scholarship from the Henry Street Settlement to study with the Metropolitan Opera soprano Rose Bampton and her husband, conductor Wilfrid Pelletier.
Among the many roles he sang at New York City Opera were Porcus in Jeanne d'Arc au bûcher by Arthur Honegger;[5] Don Basilio in The Marriage of Figaro[6] and Tanchum the Madman in the world premiere of The Golem, by Abraham Ellstein.
In the role of Tanchum Miles Kastendieck of the New York Journal-American noted "Maurice Stern's madman topped all the characterizations, for he acts and sings with complete conviction.
"[7] Paul Henry Lang of New York Herald Tribune wrote, "Maurice Stern acted and sang the role of the madman with convincing force.
[10] Stern performed regularly with the company through 1963 and later returned as guest in the roles of Robespierre in the American premieres of Danton's Death by Gottfried von Einem[11] and The Inspector General by Werner Egk.
Stern appeared as Captain James Lee in the world premiere of Deseret, an opera by Leonard Kastle based on an episode in the life of the Mormon prophet Brigham Young.
There, he sang the title roles in Lohengrin[28] and Andrea Chenier, Cavaradossi in Tosca,[29] Radames in Aida, The Duke in Rigoletto and Belmonte in Die Entführung aus dem Serail.
This was followed by an engagement at the Hessisches Staatstheater Wiesbaden where he sang Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly, Rodolfo in La Boheme, Don José in Carmen,[30] Alfredo in La Traviata, the title role in Xerxes (Serse),[31] Barinkay in Der Zigeunerbaron,[32] Hans in The Bartered Bride, Belmonte in Die Entführung aus dem Serail, The Singer in Der Rosenkavalier[33] and Rinuccio in Gianni Schicchi.
During this time he made guest appearances at the Oper Frankfurt as Rodolfo in La Boheme; at Stadttheater Klagenfurt as Hans in The Bartered Bride; at the Badisches Staatstheater Karlsruhe as Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly and The Duke in Rigoletto; and at Theater der Stadt Koblenz as Cavaradossi in Tosca.
The Neue Ruhr Zeitung Duisburg noted that "Maurice Stern gives OTELLO greatness and stature, in combination with excitement and expressive singability of his dark-toned tenor voice".
He sang "Dio, mi potevi scagliar," which resulted in L'Ôpèra de Montréal engaging Stern to sing seven performances of Otello in a televised production with Alfredo Silipigni conducting and Antoine Vitez directing.
"[42] Additional roles that Stern performed at the Deutsche Oper am Rhein included: Don Alvaro in La Forza del Destino, Canio in Pagliacci, Porcus in Jeanne d'Arc au bûcher by Arthur Honegger and Alfred in Die Fledermaus under the stage direction of Otto Schenk.
[54] In 1985 he sang the role of Dick Johnson in Puccini's La Fanciulla del West at Gian Carlo Menotti's Festival dei Due Mondi in Charleston, South Carolina.