{"id":39,"date":"2023-01-17T13:33:24","date_gmt":"2023-01-17T21:33:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/music.wsu.edu\/focam\/?page_id=39"},"modified":"2025-10-07T13:43:29","modified_gmt":"2025-10-07T20:43:29","slug":"james-stephenson","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/music.wsu.edu\/focam\/james-stephenson\/","title":{"rendered":"James Stephenson"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Leading American orchestras, instrumentalists, and wind ensembles around the world have performed the music of Chicago based composer James M. Stephenson, both to critical acclaim and the delight of audiences. The Boston Herald raved about \u201cstraightforward, unabashedly beautiful sounds,\u201d suggesting \u201cStephenson deserves to be heard again and again!\u201d A formal sense of melody and tonality characterize his music, each embedded in a contemporary soundscape. These qualities, coupled with the composer\u2019s keen ability to write to each occasion, have led to a steady stream of commissions and ongoing projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Chicago Symphony Orchestra \u2013 Riccardo Muti, Zell Music Director \u2013 engaged Jim for a world premiere in June, 2019, with Charles Vernon as soloist in a bass trombone concerto. A second bass trombone concerto received its orchestral premiere with the St. Louis Symphony and soloist Gerry Pagano, in 2017. \u201cThe President\u2019s Own\u201d United States Marine Band commissioned a symphony (the composer\u2019s second in this genre) and gave the work its premiere in 2016 at the prestigious Midwest Clinic, and subsequently recorded the work. That Symphony #2 \u2013 VOICES \u2013 has gone on to win the two most prestigious concert band awards: the National Band Association\u2019s Revelli Award in 2017, and the American Bandmasters Association\u2019s Sousa\/Ostwald award in 2018. Additionally, Compose Yourself!, Stephenson\u2019s landmark young-audience work has now been performed over 300 times since its creation in 2002, engaging children in New Zealand and Canada and across the U.S. Additional premieres include Carnegie Hall in May, 2017 (Chamber Music Charleston) and in 2019 (University of Kentucky) and in the summer, 2017, a Music Academy of the West premiere of \u201cMartha Uncaged\u201d \u2013 with the composer conducting \u2013 and a west-coast premiere of his violin concerto at the famed Cabrillo Music Festival. The 2017-18 saw a new \u201cLow brass concerto\u201d with the Minnesota Orchestra and Osmo V\u00e4nsk\u00e4. The conductor V\u00e4nsk\u00e4 followed up on the premiere by personally commissioning a new chamber work from Jim. Stephenson\u2019s \u201cLiquid Melancholy\u201d CD, on the Cedille label, consisting entirely of clarinet music recorded by the Chicago Symphony\u2019s John Bruce Yeh, garnered a Grammy nomination for \u201cBest Engineered, Classical\u201d in 2019. His powerful and emotional \u201cConcero for Hope\u201d (trumpet concerto #3) has plans for recording with the Memphis Symphony (Robert Moody) and soloist Ryan Anthony.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Devil\u2019s Tale (2013), a sequel to Stravinsky\u2019s famous \u201cSoldier\u2019s Tale\u201d has become a highlight of Stephenson\u2019s extensive chamber music output, having already garnered much critical praise for its recent recording (\u201ca most remarkable work\u201d \u2013 Fanfare Magazine) and numerous performances, including at noteworthy venues such as Ravinia and Millennium Stage at the Kennedy Center.
James M. Stephenson came late to his full-time composing career, having first earned a degree from the New England Conservatory in trumpet performance, and then going on to perform 17 seasons in the Naples Philharmonic in Florida. As such, the composer is largely self-taught, making his voice truly individual and his life\u2019s work all the more remarkable. Colleagues and friends encouraged his earliest efforts and enthusiasm followed from all directions. As his catalog grew, so did his reputation. That catalog now boasts concertos and sonatas for nearly every instrument, earning him the moniker \u201cThe Concerto King\u201d from Chicago Symphony clarinetist John Yeh. The vast majority of those compositions came through commissions by and for major symphony principal players, in Chicago, Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Minnesota, Washington DC, St. Louis, Oregon, Milwaukee, and Dallas, among others. A major break came from the Minnesota Commissioning Club, which led to two works (violin concertos) receiving premieres in 2012\u2014by Jennifer Frautschi with the Minnesota Orchestra under Osmo V\u00e4nsk\u00e4 and by Alex Kerr with the Rhode Island Philharmonic under Larry Rachleff. Other international soloists for whom Stephenson has composed include saxophonist Branford Marsalis and trumpeter Rex Richardson, whose concerto has been performed on five continents. With such prolific output, Stephenson\u2019s music is well represented in recordings. Nearly all of his solo brass works (over 50) have been professionally recorded, and in total, his extensive catalog for all instruments can be heard on over 30 CDs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

James Stephenson is also a highly sought-after arranger and conductor, rounding out his constantly busy schedule. His arrangements have been performed\/recorded\/broadcast by virtually every major orchestra in the country, including the Boston Pops, Cincinnati Pops, New York Pops and more. On the podium, Stephenson has led orchestras in Chattanooga, Bozeman, Charleston, Ft. Myers, Modesto, and Wyoming, in addition to numerous concert bands. With the Lake Forest Symphony, near his Illinois home, he has not only conducted, but will celebrate his 10th anniversary as Composer-in-Residence during the 2019\/20 season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jim originally hails from the Greater Chicago area, as does his wife Sally. In 2007 the couple, along with their four children, returned to the region to pursue the life they now share.<\/p>\n\n<\/div>\r\n\n\n

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Learn more at James Stephenson\u2019s website<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

(This link leads to an external website that is not hosted by the university. The views and content expressed are those of the faculty member and do not represent the official positions of the university.)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n<\/div>\r\n\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":45,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":[],"wsuwp_university_location":[],"wsuwp_university_org":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/music.wsu.edu\/focam\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/39"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/music.wsu.edu\/focam\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/music.wsu.edu\/focam\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/music.wsu.edu\/focam\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/45"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/music.wsu.edu\/focam\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/music.wsu.edu\/focam\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/39\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":320,"href":"https:\/\/music.wsu.edu\/focam\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/39\/revisions\/320"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/music.wsu.edu\/focam\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"wsuwp_university_location","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/music.wsu.edu\/focam\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/wsuwp_university_location?post=39"},{"taxonomy":"wsuwp_university_org","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/music.wsu.edu\/focam\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/wsuwp_university_org?post=39"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}