Stephen Ivan Portman (born 1 January 1935 in

Mount Vernon Mount Vernon is an American landmark and former plantation of Founding Father, commander of the Continental Army in the Revolutionary War, and the first president of the United States George Washington and his wife, Martha. The estate is ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

) is an American conductor and pianist, educated also in

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

and

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bo ...

. Portman studied the piano with

Paul Wittgenstein Paul Wittgenstein (November 5, 1887March 3, 1961) was an Austrian-American concert pianist notable for commissioning new piano concerti for the left hand alone, following the amputation of his right arm during the First World War. He devised nove ...

in New York, in

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus ( legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

at the Academy of St. Cecilia with

Carlo Zecchi Carlo Zecchi (8 July 190331 August 1984) was an Italian pianist, music teacher and conductor. Zecchi was born in Rome. A pupil of F. Baiardi for piano and of L. Refice and A. Bustini for composition, he began his career as a concert pianist at ...

and then at

Juilliard School The Juilliard School ( ) is a private performing arts conservatory in New York City. Established in 1905, the school trains about 850 undergraduate and graduate students in dance, drama, and music. It is widely regarded as one of the most ...

with

Sascha Gorodnitzki Sascha Gorodnitzki (24 May 19044 April 1986) was an American concert pianist, recording artist and pedagogue at the Juilliard School of Music. Biography Early life and education Born in Kyiv, Russian Empire Gorodnitzki emigrated as an infant ...

in the 1950s, and conducting at

Mannes School of Music Mannes School of Music is a music conservatory in The New School, a private research university in New York City. In the fall of 2015, Mannes moved from its previous location on Manhattan's Upper West Side to join the rest of the New School c ...

. He studied with

Pierre Monteux Pierre Benjamin Monteux (; 4 April 18751 July 1964) was a French (later American) conducting, conductor. After violin and viola studies, and a decade as an orchestral player and occasional conductor, he began to receive regular conducting enga ...

and subsequently on a fellowship with

George Szell George Szell (; June 7, 1897 – July 30, 1970), originally György Széll, György Endre Szél, or Georg Szell, was a Hungarian-born American conductor and composer. He is widely considered one of the twentieth century's greatest condu ...

and the

Cleveland Orchestra The Cleveland Orchestra, based in Cleveland, is one of the five American orchestras informally referred to as the " Big Five". Founded in 1918 by the pianist and impresario Adella Prentiss Hughes, the orchestra plays most of its concerts at Seve ...

. He moved to Finland and continued his studies at the

Sibelius Academy The Sibelius Academy ( fi, Taideyliopiston Sibelius-Akatemia, sv, Sibelius-Akademin vid Konstuniversitetet) is part of the University of the Arts Helsinki and a university-level music school which operates in Helsinki and Kuopio, Finland. It al ...

with conductor

Jussi Jalas Jussi Jalas (23 June 1908 – 11 October 1985) was a Finnish conductor and composer. Biography Jalas was born as Armas Jussi Veikko Blomstedt in Jyväskylä in 1908.Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians, 5th ed, 1954, Vol. IV, p. 576 His fathe ...

in 1962–1964. He held the post of Musical Director of the Opera Studio at the

between 1965-1970 and then Conductor at the

Finnish National Opera The Finnish National Opera and Ballet ( fi, Suomen Kansallisooppera ja -baletti; sv, Finlands Nationalopera och -balett) is a Finnish opera company and ballet company based in Helsinki. It is headquartered in the Opera House on the coast of the ...

in 1969–1970, and at

Oulu Symphony Orchestra The Oulu Symphony Orchestra ( fi, Oulu Sinfonia or ') is a Finnish orchestra based in Oulu, Finland. Oulu Sinfonia gives concerts primarily at the Oulu Music Centre, in the ''Madetojan sali'' (Madetoja Concert Hall), located in the Karjasilta dis ...

1970–1975. After which, he conducted opera in Gothenburg and

Malmö Malmö (, ; da, Malmø ) is the largest city in the Swedish county (län) of Scania (Skåne). It is the third-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm and Gothenburg, and the sixth-largest city in the Nordic region, with a municipal popula ...

among others. He's also conducted in Italy, Denmark, USSR, Czechoslovakia, South Africa and the USA. In 1977, he moved the England and has conducted the

BBC Singers The BBC Singers are a British chamber choir, and the professional chamber choir of the BBC. One of the six BBC Performing Groups, the BBC Singers are based at the BBC's Maida Vale Studios in London. The only full-time professional British c ...

and the

Royal Philharmonic Orchestra The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (RPO) is a British symphony orchestra based in London, that performs and produces primarily classic works. The RPO was established by Thomas Beecham in 1946. In its early days, the orchestra secured profitable ...

with

Birgit Nilsson Märta Birgit Nilsson (17 May 1918 – 25 December 2005) was a celebrated Swedish dramatic soprano. Although she sang a wide répertoire of operatic and vocal works, Nilsson was best known for her performances in the operas of Richard Wagner a ...

The Proms The BBC Proms or Proms, formally named the Henry Wood Promenade Concerts Presented by the BBC, is an eight-week summer season of daily orchestral classical music concerts and other events held annually, predominantly in the Royal Albert H ...

. Portman is currently Honorary Patron of the Kent-based

Caritas Chamber Choir Caritas may refer to: * The Latin term for charity, one of the three theological virtues Religion * Caritas Internationalis, a confederation of Roman Catholic relief, development and social service organisations ** Caritas Christi Health Care ...

.http://www.caritaschamberchoir.com/our-history.html He retired from active conducting in 1985.

References

Sources

* ''Otavan Iso Musiikkitietosanakirja 4'', pp. 624–625. Helsinki 1978. {{DEFAULTSORT:Portman, Stephen 1935 births American male conductors (music) Musicians from Mount Vernon, New York Living people 20th-century American pianists American expatriates in Finland American male pianists Classical musicians from New York (state) 20th-century American conductors (music) 21st-century American pianists 20th-century American male musicians 21st-century American male musicians