John D. Stevens
Biography
John D. Stevens (b. 1951, Buffalo, N.Y.) is an American composer, arranger, tubist, and brass pedagogue.
He holds degrees in Music Performance (tuba) from the Eastman School of Music (1973) and Yale University (1975). For many years John Stevens was a free-lance performer in New York City. His career included membership in the Aspen Festival Orchestra, New York Tuba Quartet, numerous other chamber ensembles and he was the original tuba soloist in some 500 performances of Barnum on Broadway. He also performed with the New York Philharmonic, Metropolitan Opera stage bands, New York City Ballet and New York City Opera, many other NYC based orchestras, the San Francisco Ballet, Houston Symphony and toured and recorded with, among others, Chuck Mangione and the American Brass Quintet.
From 1981 to 1985 he was on the faculty of the University of Miami (FL) School of Music. In 1985 he joined the faculty of the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, where he served as professor of tuba/euphonium, a member of the Wisconsin Brass Quintet and Director of the School. He performs with the Wisconsin Brass Quintet, the brass chamber ensemble in residence at the University of Wisconsin–Madison.
Stevens' compositions include several major works for the tuba, including Journey, Power, Moondance, City Suite, Dances, Manhattan Suite, Triumph of the Demon Gods, Suite for Two and a euphonium concerto and sonata. Many of his compositions are published by Swiss music publisher Editions-BIM. His most recently completed commissions include a Sonata for Bass Trombone and Piano, composed for a consortium of many of the country’s premier orchestral bass trombonists and a suite for tuba and piano for a consortium of 20 leading tubists.
His compositional style ranges from rock and jazz to modern through-composed music. In 1997 he was commissioned by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra to write a tuba concerto.
In 2008, Professor Stevens received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the International Tuba and Euphonium Association, the highest honor in his field. In retirement, he is now focusing on composing and is the conductor of the acclaimed, Wisconsin based brass ensemble, The Isthmus Brass.
Works for Winds
Adaptable Music
- Benediction (Flex instrumentation) (2003/2010/2022)
All Wind Works
- Adagio (1991)
- Benediction (Brass Dectet) (2003/2015)
- Benediction (Flex instrumentation) (2003/2010/2022)
- Benediction (Tuba Quartet) (2003/2019)
- Benediction (Wind Ensemble) (2003/2010)
- Dances (1978)
- Euphonium Concerto (2004/2009)
- Jubilare! (2002)
- Manhattan Suite (1979)
- Power (1978)
- Symphony in Three Movements (2006)
- Vexilla Regis (as arranger) (1892/1995)
Resources
- John Stevens, personal correspondence, April 2018
- John D. Stevens, Wikipedia
- John Stevens, Editions Bim
- Ragsdale, David. "Benediction." In Teaching Music through Performance in Band. Volume 10, Compiled and edited by Richard Miles, 376-380. Chicago: GIA Publications, 2015.