Ian Stephens

Ian Stephens is a composer and arranger of increasing renown. His original music has been widely performed in the UK and further afield by ensembles including the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, Royal Northern Sinfonia, Brodsky Quartet, Fitzwilliam Quartet and Choir of King’s College Cambridge, and has been broadcast on BBC Radio 3 and 4.

We’re Going on a Bear Hunt, his children’s entertainment for narrator and orchestra, was performed by the RLPO, with Michael Rosen narrating, at the Royal Albert Hall on 1 September 2013, as part of the BBC Proms. Recent works include Clarinet Concerto for Mandy Burvill (performed 4 times in the 2019-20 season), choral music (Cecilia Speaks, Three Cornish Songs) and chamber works (Springhead Echoes, Clarinet Quintet, Bassoon Sonata). Forthcoming projects include a solo piano piece for Phillip Leslie.

Ian has produced arrangements for artists including Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark, Cate Le Bon, Black and Boris Grebenshchikov; he created all the orchestrations for ‘And In The End’, a 12-concert tour with the Bootleg Beatles and Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra (2019-20).

Born in Sidmouth, Devon, Ian studied music at Bristol University and is based near Liverpool, where he takes a full part in the musical life of the city and the region as a composer, performer, lecturer and teacher. He is a mentor on the Rushworth Young Composer scheme, and a Composition Tutor at Chetham’s School of Music.