YRMusic.com :: Bio : Naomi Stephan

Naomi Stephan (b. 1938)

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Dr. Naomi Stephan's background is choral/vocal, and spans solo, group and choral performing in church music, oratorio, art song opera, medieval music, madrigal, contemporary music and pop settings.

After her studies at Indiana University in German and voice, Naomi received two Fulbright scholarships for art song and oratorio study, and received a second B.A. in Voice from the Hochschule für Musik in Berlin and, subsequently, was awarded a German Government Grant (DAAD) to write a dissertation on the Lieder of Robert Schumann.

In the early 1990's Naomi began to compose choral music. Her specialty is a cappella music and music for women’s choruses. She is particularly interested in using quality texts set in unusual combinations of voices and instruments, using neo-medieval, fugal, percussive, and rhythmic experimentation while steadfastly maintaining a modal, tonal or harmonically-based foundation to my choral writing. She is also a passionate advocate of inclusive texts, and texts written with a Lesbian- and gay-friendly perspective.

Many of Naomi's choral compositions result from grants and commissions, or are winners of competitions. Her first composition, Spring Song, was the only one by a living woman composer to be played at the Chorus America Convention in L.A. in 1993. Since then, she has been working almost exclusively on choral commissions for college, professional, and women’s choruses.

Naomi uses a wide range of themes, from celebration of the Vagina (Ave Pudendum) to a new choral Cantata written with the help of a grant from the Thanks Be to Grandmother Foundation, Mater in Memoriam, for SSAA and Chamber Ensemble, or for SSAA and Piano. This piece is noteworthy as it treats the mother-daughter relationship from a Lesbian perspective, while maintaining a universal appeal for non gay audiences. Recently, Naomi received a $5,000 Artist Fellowship grant to premiere and produce a multi-media expanded version of this piece which will be premiered in April, 2003 in Ventura, CA. Examples from this work can be found on Naomi's web site.

Naomi is a member of the International Association of Women Composers and ASCAP.

She is available to write commissions for choruses and can be reached at:

Dr. Naomi Stephan
P.O. Box 182
Ojai, CA 93024
Tel: 805.640.9118
FAX 805.640.9709;
email: femcomposer@aol.com
Website: lifemissionassociates.com

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