Stephen Chatman (born 28 February 1950) is an American-born Canadian composer residing in

Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

. His compositions have been performed across Canada and in the United States.

Early life and education

Chatman was born in

Faribault, Minnesota Faribault ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Rice County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 24,453 at the 2020 census. Faribault is approximately south of Minneapolis–Saint Paul. Interstate 35 and Minnesota State Highwa ...

. He studied with

Joseph R. Wood Joseph Wood (May 12, 1915 – June 3, 2000) was an American composer and music educator. He was a faculty member at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music where he taught music theory and composition from 1950 until his retirement in 1985. He performe ...

and Walter Aschaffenburg at the

Oberlin Conservatory The Oberlin Conservatory of Music is a private music conservatory of Oberlin College, a private liberal arts college in Oberlin, Ohio. It was founded in 1865 and is the second oldest conservatory and oldest continually operating conservatory in ...

. At the

University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

Ann Arbor Ann Arbor is a city in Washtenaw County, Michigan, United States, and its county seat. The 2020 United States census, 2020 census recorded its population to be 123,851, making it the List of municipalities in Michigan, fifth-most populous cit ...

, he studied with

Ross Lee Finney Ross Lee Finney (December 23, 1906 – February 4, 1997) was an American composer who taught for many years at the University of Michigan. Life and career Born in Wells, Minnesota, Finney received his early training at Carleton College and the Un ...

, Leslie Bassett,

William Bolcom William Elden Bolcom (born May 26, 1938) is an American composer and pianist. He has received the Pulitzer Prize, the National Medal of Arts, a Grammy Award, the Detroit Music Award and was named 2007 Composer of the Year by Musical America. He ...

, and Eugene Kurtz, completing a D.M.A. degree in 1977. A

Fulbright The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States cultural exchange programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the people ...

grant enabled him to study with

Karlheinz Stockhausen Karlheinz Stockhausen (; 22 August 1928 – 5 December 2007) was a German composer, widely acknowledged by critics as one of the most important but also controversial composers of the 20th and early 21st centuries. He is known for his groun ...

at the

Hochschule für Musik A music school is an educational institution specialized in the study, training, and research of music. Such an institution can also be known as a school of music, music academy, music faculty, college of music, music department (of a larger in ...

Cologne Cologne ( ; ; ) is the largest city of the States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with nearly 1.1 million inhabitants in the city pr ...

in 1974.

Career

In 1976, Chatman joined the faculty of the

University of British Columbia The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a Public university, public research university with campuses near University of British Columbia Vancouver, Vancouver and University of British Columbia Okanagan, Kelowna, in British Columbia, Canada ...

, in

. He composed a number of musical works in the 1980s, including the suite ''There Is Sweet Music There'' for chorus and oboe, and the choral work ''Due North''. Chatman became Head of the Composition Division of the UBC School of Music in 1977 and was promoted to Professor in 1987. He was named a Member of the

Order of Canada The Order of Canada () is a Canadian state order, national order and the second-highest Award, honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the Canadian Centennial, ce ...

in July 2012. In 2010 his composition "Magnificat" was his third nomination for a Juno Award. He has received three BMI Awards to Student Composers and four Western Canadian Music Awards for Outstanding Composition. In 2017, an album of Chatman's compositions, ''Dawn of Night'', sung by the University of Toronto MacMillan Singers, was released by Centrediscs. His comic opera ''Choir Practice'', created with Tara Wohlberg, was performed by the University of British Columbia Opera Ensemble.

Notable students

Chatman's notable students include

John Burge John David Bryson Burge (born 2 January 1961) is a Canadian composer, music educator, and pianist. He has won a number of awards for his compositions, including the Alberta Culture Award (1982), the William Erving Fairclough Scholarship (198 ...

, Richard Covey, Arne Eigenfeldt,

John Estacio John Estacio (born April 8, 1966) is a contemporary Canadian composer of opera, orchestral and choral music. __TOC__ Life and career Estacio was born in Newmarket, Ontario. Raised in the farming community of the Holland Marsh, Ontario, Estacio t ...

Melissa Hui Melissa Hui is a Chinese-Canadian composer and pianist. She was born in 1966 in Hong Kong and currently resides in Montreal where she has been a faculty member at McGill University since 2010. Notable works by this artist include ''and blue spar ...

Jocelyn Morlock Jocelyn Morlock (14 December 1969 – 27 March 2023) was a Canadian composer and music educator based in Vancouver, British Columbia. Her piece ''My Name is Amanda Todd'' won the 2018 Juno Award for Classical Composition of the Year. Early life ...

, Jason Nett,

Larry Nickel Larry Nickel (born March 12, 1952) is a Canadian composer, Conducting, conductor, music publisher and singer who devotes much of his focus to choral music. An associate composer of the Canadian Music Centre. he has composed for a wide spectrum of ...

John Oliver John William Oliver (born 23 April 1977) is a British and American comedian who hosts ''Last Week Tonight with John Oliver'' on HBO. He started his career as a stand-up comedian in the United Kingdom and came to wider attention for his work ...

, and

Rui Shi Zhuo Rui Shi Zhuo (, born 1956) is a Chinese-born Canadian composer, based in British Columbia. He has been commissioned by the Canada Council, and has written music for an animated film. He has been composer-in-residence for the Vancouver Chinese ...

References

* Footnotes

External links

Biography on the composer's homepage.Stephen Chatman
AllMusic. {{DEFAULTSORT:Chatman, Stephen 20th-century Canadian classical composers 21st-century Canadian classical composers 1950 births Living people Members of the Order of Canada University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre & Dance alumni Pupils of Karlheinz Stockhausen Canadian male classical composers 20th-century Canadian male musicians 21st-century Canadian male musicians Oberlin Conservatory of Music alumni