Stephen Benjamin Kemp (November 8, 1849 – October 30, 1918) was an English

pianist A pianist ( , ) is a musician who plays the piano. A pianist's repertoire may include music from a diverse variety of styles, such as traditional classical music, jazz piano, jazz, blues piano, blues, and popular music, including rock music, ...

, piano pedagogue,

music editor The term music editor may refer to one of several occupations. In publishing, a music editor is a person who prepares music manuscripts for publication. The use of music editors began at the onset of music publishing in Europe in the late 15th cent ...

, and

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and def ...

Education and career

Born in

Great Yarmouth Great Yarmouth ( ), often called Yarmouth, is a seaside resort, seaside town which gives its name to the wider Borough of Great Yarmouth in Norfolk, England; it straddles the River Yare and is located east of Norwich. Its fishing industry, m ...

Norfolk Norfolk ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in England, located in East Anglia and officially part of the East of England region. It borders Lincolnshire and The Wash to the north-west, the North Sea to the north and eas ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

, Stephen Kemp was trained at the

Royal Academy of Music The Royal Academy of Music (RAM) in London, England, is one of the oldest music schools in the UK, founded in 1822 by John Fane and Nicolas-Charles Bochsa. It received its royal charter in 1830 from King George IV with the support of the firs ...

(RAM) where he attended as a scholarship student for a three-year period. His teachers at the RAM included brothers

George George may refer to: Names * George (given name) * George (surname) People * George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George * George Papagheorghe, also known as Jorge / GEØRGE * George, stage name of Gior ...

and Walter Macfarren,

William Sterndale Bennett Sir William Sterndale Bennett (13 April 18161 February 1875) was an English composer, pianist, conductor and music educator. At the age of ten Bennett was admitted to the London Royal Academy of Music (RAM), where he remained for ten years. B ...

Otto Goldschmidt Otto Moritz David Goldschmidt (21 August 1829 – 24 February 1907) was a composer, conductor, pianist and educator, whose works included a piano concerto and other piano pieces, and an oratorio, ''Ruth'', on a biblical theme, written for the Th ...

, John Goss, and Ernst Pauer. He made his professional debut as a concert pianist at the age of fourteen at the Assembly Rooms in Yarmouth, and was thereafter active as a concert pianist in London for many years. Kemp was an active member of the

Royal Philharmonic Society The Royal Philharmonic Society (RPS) is a British music society, formed in 1813. Its original purpose was to promote performances of instrumental music in London. Many composers and performers have taken part in its concerts. It is now a memb ...

. In 1871 he gave a highly successful concert tour of England and Wales with the clarinetist Henry Lazarus. In 1878 he toured Norway with the flautist Oluf Svendsen. Kemp taught piano on the faculty of the National Training School of Music from 1876 until the school closed in 1882. After this he taught piano concurrently on the faculties of the RAM and the

Guildhall School of Music and Drama The Guildhall School of Music and Drama is a music school, music and drama school located in the City of London, England. Established in 1880, the school offers undergraduate and postgraduate training in all aspects of classical music and jazz al ...

up until his death in 1918. In addition to his work as a teacher and concert pianist he was also a composer of works for both piano and organ. He also worked as a music editor for the publisher Edwin Ashdown (1826-1912).

Personal life

Kemp was married twice during his life, first to Clara Beasley who died, and then to Gertrude E. Thorne (marriage in 1905). The second of his three sons was the marine biologist

Stanley Wells Kemp Stanley Wells Kemp, FRS (14 June 1882 – 16 May 1945) was an English marine biologist. He was born in London, the second of three sons of Stephen Kemp, a professor at the Royal Academy and Royal School of Music. As a boy he took an interest i ...

. He also was the father of three daughters. Stephen Kemp died on October 20, 1918, in London.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kemp, Stephen 1849 births 1918 deaths Academics of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama Academics of the Royal Academy of Music Alumni of the Royal Academy of Music English classical pianists British male classical pianists English composers Music editors Musicians from Great Yarmouth