Stephen A. Taylor

Associate Professor of Composition-Theory

Northwestern University; California Insitutute of the Arts; Cornell University; student of Bill Karlins, Alan Stout, Mel Powell, Karel Husa, and Steven Stucky

Stephen Andrew Taylor’s music often explores boundaries between art and science. His first orchestra commission, Unapproachable Light, inspired by images from the Hubble Space Telescope and the New Testament, was premiered by the American Composers Orchestra in 1996 in Carnegie Hall. Other works include the chamber quartet Quark Shadows, commissioned by the Chicago Symphony and premiered in 2001; and Seven Memorials, a 32-minute cycle for piano inspired by the work of Maya Lin and premiered by Gloria Cheng in Los Angeles, 2004 (it was also featured at Tanglewood in July 2006). Excerpts from his opera-in-progress, Paradises Lost, were performed by the New York City Opera in May 2006. Other projects include Flow for the recorder collective Quartet New Generation with the New Philharmonic, and a new work for the Pacifica Quartet. Besides composing for traditional instruments, Taylor also works with live electronics in pieces such as Nebulae for harp, laptop and live video, premiered by Ann Yeung in Dublin, 2005; the video is based on paintings by his wife Hua Nian. He is also active as a conductor with the University of Illinois New Music Ensemble, and as a theorist, writing and lecturing on interactive music, György Ligeti, and Björk. Taylor's music has won awards from Northwestern, Cornell, the Conservatoire Américain de Fontainebleau, Composers, Inc., Debussy Trio, Howard Foundation, College Band Directors National Association, New York State Federation of Music Clubs, Illinois Arts Council, American Music Center, and ASCAP. Among his commissions are works for Northwestern University, University of Illinois, Syracuse Society for New Music, Pink Martini and the Oregon Symphony, Quad City Symphony, Chicago Symphony MusicNOW series, Quartet New Generation, Piano Spheres, and American Composers Orchestra.

When I teach composition I try to follow the example of Olivier Messiaen, who didn’t wish to turn his students into clones of himself. Instead he tried to help each of his students become themselves, developing their own musical personality. With so many musical styles in currency, I would much rather help students follow their chosen path than tell them which path they should follow. What I do insist on is that composers write lots of music. The only way to get good at something is to practice.