Stephen Jean was born in 1977 in Fall River, Massachusetts and grew up
right across the Taunton River in Somerset, MA. He began playing the
euphonium in fifth grade, studying with Jerry Shaw, and added the tuba,
valve trombone, and singing bass to his repertoire during high school,
where he played and sang in every musical ensemble available to him. He
wrote his first piece of music, "Fury No. 1" for low brass quartet in
his junior year, and decided then that he wanted to pursue composition
seriously. Stephen then attended the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, studying composition with Robert Stern and Charles Bestor, and euphonium with Douglas LaRosa, Victoria Moore, and Benedict Smar.
It was here that he heard his first real efforts performed at the
student composers' concerts, working with both fellow student musicians
and faculty members. Stephen also performed with the University
Symphony Band, Wind Ensemble, Trombone-Euphonium Choir, and various
"pick-up" ensembles, including a student-formed tuba quartet. He also
became a member of the International Tuba-Euphonium Association (ITEA)
at this time. Stephen graduated in 1999 with a Bachelor of Music in
Composition and Theory, but returned to do some non-degree graduate
work in music for the 1999-2000 school year. Since then, he has
continued to write for various ensembles and occasions.
Performances/uses of Stephen's music have occurred at the Annual
Southeastern Massachusetts Low Brass Symposium, the Northeast Tuba-Euphonium Workshop, the Epic Brass Summer Brass Players' Institute,
the Massachusetts Southeast District Senior High Music Festival, and
the 2003 Minnesota Fringe Theater Festival. He has also given private
instrumental lessons to junior high and high school-aged students, and
continued to perform with various groups in Massachusetts, Rhode
Island, and New Hampshire. These include the Charles River Wind Ensemble (Newton, MA), the Middlesex Concert Band (Wakefield, MA), the Tri-County Symphonic Band (Marion, MA), the Southeastern Massachusetts Wind Symphony (Norton, MA), the Atlantic Wind Symphony (South Lancaster, MA), the Great Woods Chamber Orchestra (Norton, MA), the North Tiverton (Portuguese) Band (North Tiverton, RI), the South Shore Circus Concert Band (East Bridgewater, MA), and Pesante Brass,
a semi-professional tuba quartet which Stephen helped to form. Stephen
recently performed as euphonium soloist with the Southeastern
Massachusetts Wind Symphony, conducted by Earl Raney, at Wheaton
College in Norton, MA, where he performed the "Willson Suite" by Robert
W. Smith and "Seascape:A Dramatic Intermezzo" by Alfred Reed. He joined
the Society of Composers, Inc.
in 2004 with the hope of connecting with other composers and making
more contact with the world of contemporary music. Stephen is currently
composing "Cells", a song cycle for mezzo-soprano and wind ensemble
based on poems by his friend, poet/playwright Timothy Matos, and he was
also asked to write a concert opener for the Charles River Wind
Ensemble to help celebrate the group's 10th anniversary during the
2008-2009 concert season. Stephen will be attending Simmons College
in Boston from 2009-2011, pursuing a master's degree in Library and
Information Science, with a concentration in music libraries. He
currently lives with his wife Elizabeth in Lowell, MA.
Mr. Jean's composition "Lift" will be performed by the Tri-County Symphonic Band on March 21, 2010.