Stephen was born in Glasgow in 1983 and began playing the flute when he was 14 years old. Having initially studied with Sheena Gordon, he continued his studies with David Nicholson, Helen Brew and Janet Richardson at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama from where he graduated with Honours. Whilst still a student, Stephen was a major prize winner and in the same year won both 2nd prize in the Mozart Concerto Competition and first prize in the prestigious RSAMD Concerto Competition. Stephen completed his studies with Richard Davies and Michael Cox at the Royal Northern College of Music where he received a Scholarship. He has also been fortunate to receive tuition and guidance from many other distinguished musicians. These include Jacques Zoon, Peter Lloyd, Phillipa Davies, Lorna Mcghee, Emily Beynon, Paul Edmund-Davies, Matej Zupan, Richard Blake, Sebastian Bell, Moshe Epstein and Wissam Boustany.
As a soloist, Stephen has performed throughout the United Kingdom, Ireland, Finland, Latvia, Estonia, Russia, Croatia, Mexico, Chile, Egypt, Libya, Malta, Australia, South Africa, Indonesia, Brazil, Slovenia and the U.S.A. In August 2005, Stephen was also awarded the Musicians Benevolent Fund/Oxford Flute Bursary Award and from 2005 - 2006, he was a performing artist on Lord Yehudi Menuhin’s Live Music Now Scheme!
Stephen is also in great demand as a teacher, workshop and masterclass leader. Stephen has given regular classes both in the UK and abroad and often gives classes for the international organisation Flutewise. Since 2008, he has frequently been engaged by Glyndebourne Opera. Most recently as Guest Principal Flute having previously performed "on stage" flute playing roles and leading education workshops. Recently, Stephen was invited as Visiting Professor of flute at the International Summer Flute Academy of Kastella. His residency and performances there where documented by Croatian television. Stephen is greatly dedicated to the promotion of music to children and young people. This has led him to perform concerts and deliver classes extensively for the Music For Youth Initiative of Scotland. In September 2009, Stephen will begin tenure as the Artistic Director of the Birmingham Flute Choir.
Stephen has recorded for Classic FM, Amadeus, Linn Records and for the Naxos label and broadcast live on Northern Ireland’s 7FM and BBC Radio 3. He is also the solo flautist featured in the current Children’s Classic Concerts CD. In 2009, Stephen appeared on screen as the flute player in both the BBC's period drama series "Desperate Romantics" and ITV's feature film "Miss Marple - The Secret of Chimneys".
Stephen is an International Altus Artist and plays exclusively on Altus flutes.
