About

Stephan was born in Nottingham, England and began his musical studies on the French horn at the age of 11. He is a graduate of the Royal Northern College of Music, Manchester (RNCM) and a postgraduate of Trinity College of Music, London.

A successful career as a freelance French horn player was sadly cut short by the onset of a repetitive strain lip injury in 2000 and Stephan subsequently retrained into law, but music always remained a real passion.

In 2013, Stephan took a break from legal work to start conducting studies and since 2014, he has studied in Italy with Ennio Nicotra (protégé of the late, great conducting pedagogue, Ilya Musin), both on the continuing professional development course in orchestral conducting technique at the Università degli Studi di Milano-Bicocca, Milan and in annual courses and masterclasses in Palermo, Robbiate, Rome and Turin. In 2022, Stephan was selected to participate in the Fort Wayne Philharmonic - International Conductors Guild International Conductors Workshop in Fort Wayne, USA, under the guidance of Ennio Nicotra and Andrew Constantine, where he participated in rehearsals and a performance with the Fort Wayne Philharmonic.

Stephan has also studied in the UK with Peter Stark and participated in orchestral, wind ensemble and opera conducting masterclasses at the RNCM with Timothy Reynish, Mark Heron, Jac van Steen, Nicolás Pasquet and Gergely Madaras and at Canford Summer School of Music with James Croft, Robert Ponto and Baldur Brönnimann (where he also attended masterclasses given by George Hurst). As part of his studies, Stephan has also spent time at rehearsals with the Philharmonia Orchestra, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, gaining an invaluable insight into the work of several conductors including Christoph von Dohnányi, Andris Nelsons, Tugan Sokhiev and Donald Runnicles.

Stephan has conducted and coached orchestras in the UK, USA, Italy and Russia. Performances have included Britten’s Serenade for Tenor, Horn & Strings with James Gilchrist (tenor) and Laura Morris (horn) in Cheltenham, a concert at the World EXPO in Milan and conducting the Nevsky Orchestra of Saint Petersburg (comprised of musicians from several leading professional orchestras in Saint Petersburg). In 2015 he participated in the week long ‘Orchestral Life’ event in Robbiate, Italy, where he worked with principal players from several Italian professional orchestras, including the Orchestra del Teatro e della Filarmonica della Scala (Milan), the Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia (Rome) and the Orchestra della Fondazione “Arturo Toscanini” (Parma).

In 2019, Stephan was the winner of the Ilya Musin Society's First International Conducting Course 'City of Rome' and was invited to perform with the City of Rome Symphony Orchestra. In 2016, Stephan also won the conducting masterclass held by the Steinway Society Piemonte e Valle d’ Aosta in Turin, Italy and was nominated for a performance with the Filarmonica ‘Mihail Jora’ Bacau, Romania. He has also performed in the UK with the Kensington Philharmonic Orchestra and Hemel Symphony Orchestra.

Teaching

As a teacher and coach, Stephan has worked with young musicians at the Royal College of Music, London, Trinity College of Music, London and with several youth orchestras around the UK.

Other Performing Work

As a French horn player, Stephan has performed with a wide range of ensembles including the London Mozart Players, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, London Philharmonic Orchestra, BBC Philharmonic, Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, English Baroque Soloists, Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra, Glyndebourne Touring Opera, Classical Opera Company, Pimlico Opera, Manchester Camerata, Oxford Philomusica, Belmont Ensemble of London, Moscow City Ballet and I Fiamminghi, Belgium. He has performed at many European concert halls and at several international music festivals including the BBC Henry Wood Promenade season and the Holders Festival, Barbados.

In addition to orchestral and chamber work, Stephan has also played in many musical theatre productions throughout the UK and Norway, including West End productions of Fiddler on the Roof, Mack & Mabel, Oliver, Les Miserables, Tommy and the world premiere of Dr Dolittle, where he also assisted with the sound design.

He has worked with many of the world’s leading classical musicians including Luciano Pavarotti, Sir James Galway and Julian Bream and with stage and film actors including Topol, Tommy Steele and Edward Fox.

Stephan has performed on BBC and ITV and has also played on various recordings for the Chandos, Decca and First Night Records record labels.

Writing

Stephan regularly writes on a wide range of music related and other topics. His series of Soundbites provide practical thoughts on how musicians can enhance their performances. He has also written articles for the British Horn Society magazine and is particularly interested in promoting better awareness amongst music students and professional musicians on how to stay injury free, minimise anxiety on stage and develop more relaxed playing habits (and amongst instrumental teachers on how they can help with that process).

Support for Musicians

Stephan also has a service for musicians who might be struggling with injury, loss of musical performance or career breakdown, drawing on his vast experience to provide a compassionate ear and constructive ideas on how to recover from such misfortune. For more details, please visit the Support for Musicians page.