He has had solo as well as ensemble works performed throughout the United States and in parts of Europe. Stephen was born in Santa Fe, NM in 1980, and lived there until 1994 when he and his family moved to Minnesota. After receiving his Bachelors degree from the Setnor School of Music at Syracuse University studying composition with Nicolas Scherzinger. Daniel Godfrey and Liu Zhang, and Culinary Arts from Master Chef Greg Zemore he continued his studies at the University of Nevada – Las Vegas where he received his Master’s degree studying composition with Virko Baley and Jorge Villavicencio-Grossmann and conducting with Taras Krysa and Takayoshi “Tad” Suzuki. Stephen also studied with James Mobberly, Chen Yi, and Zhou Long at the Conservatory of Music and Dance at the University of Missouri, Kansas City.