Frank Stemper

The Music of Frank Stemper has been heard on the fringe of the music world for well over 30 years. His scores for orchestra, chamber ensemble, voice and computer have somehow found their way from his home in rural mid-America, to much of the United States and over a dozen foreign countries. His music has been performed in venues such as Teatro de Los Heroes (Mexico); Antiel Roman (Romania); Pannonalma Budapest (Hungary); Kulturhaus Dornbirn (Austria); Cowell Theatre at Fort Mason (San Francisco); Uihlein Hall (Milwaukee); Symphony Center (Chicago); Symphony Space, St. Ignatius of Antioch, Weill and Carnegie Halls (NYC); and The Kennedy Center (Washington DC); plus hundreds more. He has maintained a consistent presence on the new music scene, serving often as Guest Composer and/or performer at many international music festivals, such as Incontri Europei Con La Musica – Bergamo and Festival Spaziomusica – Cagliari, Italy; The Happening: New Music – Calgary, Canada; International De Musica Contemporanea – Alicante, Spain; Vancouver Contemporary Music Festival; Saptamina Internationala A Muzicii Noi, Zilele Muzicii Contemporane and the George Enescu International Festival of Contemporary Music – Bucharest, Romania; the Bregenzer Festspiele – Austria; etc. His music has also been aired – and often performed for live broadcast – on the National Radio stations of Mexico, Hungary, Cyprus, Romania, Radio France, and the BBC.
He has received to date nearly 40 commissions for new works from foundations and ensembles. Among his numerous accolades are the George Ladd Prix de Paris, a Pulitzer nomination, and, most recently, the New York Virtuoso Singers Competition. His work has been supported by the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), ASCAP, Meet the Composer, MTC – Global Connections, The American Music Center, The Rockefeller Fund for Music, and the State Arts Councils of Illinois, California and New York. He has been in residence with many national and international ensembles and has received multiple "Guest Composer" invitations by the governments of Romania, Mexico, Austria, Spain and The Netherlands. Closer to home, he is founder and director of The Center for Experimental Music at Southern Illinois University Carbondale, where he is Composer In Residence (Professor) and occasionally serves as pianist with the Altgeld Chamber Players.