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Biography
Stephen Eddins' first compositions, written when he was nine, were songs for his church's children's choir, and music for voice has continued to be a significant part of his creative output. A fascination with literary texts and the interplay between words and music has been a catalyst for much of his work.
After receiving his Bachelor's degree in music from Oberlin College, he taught composition, horn and piano at École St. Trinité in Port-au-Prince, Haïti. He attended seminary and served as a campus minister at Oberlin College and the University of Akron. He went on to earn his Master's degree in composition from the University of Akron, and his Doctor of Musical Arts in composition from the University of Michigan. His teachers include Randolph Coleman, Bright Sheng, William Albright, Evan Chambers, and Michael Daugherty.
He has received honors and awards from the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, the University of Michigan, the University of Akron, the Arts Council of Greater Toledo and the Masterworks Chorale, the Music Teachers National Association, Southern Region, and the North Carolina Music Teachers Association. His compositions include commissions from Brave New Works, the University of Michigan Department of Theatre, Concordia University Department of Theatre, Out Loud Chorus (Ann Arbor), the Ann Arbor School for the Performing Arts, Wild Swan Theatre (Ann Arbor), and the Michigan Shakespeare Festival.
Works for theatre - including dance, incidental music, opera, and multi-media presentations - figure prominently in his output. He has written incidental music for The Only Jealousy of Emer (Yeats), Sherlock Holmes (William Gillette), A Delicate Balance (Albee), Henry V and Macbeth (Shakespeare), The Investigation (Peter Weiss), and has led actors in creating their own incidental music for Beckett's Act Without Words and Shakespeare's A Winter's Tale. His operas include Paranoia: A Psycho-Opera, text by Phillip Lopate, produced by Caterwaul! (Ann Arbor), The Doll's House, libretto by Vincent de Tourdonnet, suggested by the short story by Katherine Mansfield, produced by Tapestry New Opera Works, Toronto, and Why I Live at the P.O. (in progress), libretto by Michael O'Brien and the composer, based on the story by Eudora Welty. A production of The Doll's House at the Factory Studio Theatre, Toronto, as part of Snappy Tales: Short Satirical Musicals, received seven 2003 Dora Mavor Moore Theatre Award nominations, including Outstanding New Musical and Outstanding Sound Design/Composition. The University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre & Dance performed excerpts from Why I Live at the P.O. in 2009 in honor of Welty's centennial year. In 2013 the Fort Worth Opera performed scenes from Why I Live at the P.O. at its initial Frontiers Festival. Critics described it as “clearly the hit of the entire Frontiers showcase,” and as “ready to roll, just about a guaranteed hit for any company that produces it.”
His catalogue also includes art song, choral music, music for liturgical use, orchestral music, music, music for children, and chamber music. Pluto, commissioned by percussionist Joseph Gramley and organist Clive Driskill-Smith had its premiere at the AGO National Convention in 2012. He has made a specialty of working with found instruments, both in his own work and in workshops and seminars on the cultivation of aural creativity. He has worked with groups of all ages, from pre-school to college students and adults, with special interest in people who have had little formal musical training. He has been a contributor to The Opera Quarterly (Oxford University Press) and has been an assistant editor for classical music at All Music Guide.
There are no productions for this artist in the Season Schedule of Performances which currently only dates back to 1991.
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Artist Information
All information is derived from OPERA America's Season Schedule of Performances and titles databases which date back to 1991. OPERA America is constantly updating this data. If you feel that a work or an artist has been omitted or that information is incorrect, please use the linked forms below. Title Information Form Artist Information Form
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