Biography
Stephen A. Martin is an active performer, educator, and composer/arranger. Previous positions include Adjunct Professor of Music at William Jewell College (Liberty, Missouri), and Assistant Band Director at Liberty North High School. Since 2016, Stephen has performed regularly as a substitute percussionist with the Kansas City Symphony, and has similarly performed with the New World Symphony, the Austin Symphony Orchestra, the Waco Symphony Orchestra, the Lansing Symphony, and the Saginaw Bay Orchestra. He has held positions with the Liberty Symphony Orchestra, Britt Festival Orchestra, Abilene Philharmonic, West Shore Symphony Orchestra, and Midland [Michigan] Symphony Orchestra. He has also performed as a featured artist with the Kansas City Wind Symphony, Holland [Michigan] Symphony Orchestra, Midland Symphony Orchestra, and Windsor [Ontario] Symphony.
Stephen attended the University of Texas at Austin, where he earned his Doctor of Musical Arts and Master of Music degrees, while also teaching as Part-time Assistant Professor of Music at Southwestern University, Adjunct Instructor of Music at Huston-Tillotson University, and Beginning Percussion Teacher at West Ridge Middle School. Prior to that he attended Central Michigan University, earning his Bachelor of Music and Bachelor of Music Education degrees. He toured and recorded extensively with the Robert Hohner Percussion Ensemble, and performed at numerous music festivals and conferences, including the Percussive Arts Society International Convention, and the North Sea, Montreux, Detroit, and Lionel Hampton international jazz festivals.
His percussion teachers include Robert Hohner, Thomas Burritt, Tony Edwards and Brannen Temple. He also studied composition with Kevin Puts and David Gillingham. Stephen’s compositions and arrangements have been performed and recorded throughout the U.S. and abroad in nations such as Norway, Slovenia, and Canada. His percussion orchestration of Eric Whitacre’s What If? was recorded on the Grammy-nominated album, A Company of Voices: Conspirare in Concert.