Acclaimed as a 'rising star' by the Manchester Evening News, Stephen Beville made his 'concerto debut' while still at school (with Mozart's Piano Concerto K491 as well as his very own Piano Concerto), and has gone on to perform with orchestras such as the Baden Philharmonie.
From 1989-1994, he attended the Junior Academy (Royal Academy of Music) learning composition, piano and conducting. Having won a Yamaha scholarship, he read Music at the Univerities of York and Huddersfield, and studied piano privately with Peter Katin. During this time he became acquainted with much contemporary music, as well as electro-acoustic pieces for instruments and tape. (He has performed in festivals such as the Huddersfield Contemporary Music festival, Media-Mix 96, the RNCM 'Glories of the Keyboard' and 'American Reflections' festivals, 2003 'Klangriffe' festival of New Music and the 2007 London New Wind festival). Stephen graduated in 1998 with First Class Honours and was awarded the Wilfrid Mellers and Rodwell prizes.
He continued his studies at the Royal Northern College of Music, where his piano teachers included Benjamin Frith and Martin Roscoe. Stephen has been awarded the Postgraduate Diploma and Mmus in Performance and Composition, as well as the Professional Performance Diploma with Distinction - the most prestigious award of the RNCM. He is the recipient of RNCM scholarships for composition and piano, the Lucy Pierce Award, and has played with the RNCM Symphony Orchestra, Chamber Orchestra and The New Ensemble in a range of music, not least his own work.
Stephen's music has been performed at distinguished venues such as the RAM, British Music Information Centre, Kings Colllege and The Barbican (London), the RNCM (Manchester) and the ZKM (Centre for Arts and Media-Technology) and Insel Theatre in Karlsruhe, Germany. The early Chamber Concerto was premiered by the Manson Ensemble (Ivor Settersfield) before being selected by the Society for the Promotion of New Music for a performance by Music Projects, London conducted by Martyn Brabbins. Other works that have been shortlisted by the SPNM include the Ballade for Eight Players, Purgatory Pieces for string quartet and Epicycle for chamber orchestra - first performed in 2000 by Andre de Ridder and The New Ensemble, before being revised for its German premiere by the Badische Staatskapelle.
In 2001, Stephen won a DAAD scholarship to attend the Musikhochschule in Karlsruhe, where he studied composition with Wolfgang Rihm and piano with Fany Solter, obtaining two Konzertexamens with highest marks. In addition, he received a scholarship from the Heinrich Strobel Foundation (Freiburg) to support his studies there, where he focused on combining live instrumental performance with electronic facilities available at the computer studio. This resulted in works with piano such as The Echoing Sky, Three Michelangelo Pieces and Fashionism - Scenes of Youth (for electric guitar, piano, percussion and electronics). All have been performed to critical acclaim - the first in collaboration with the Badische Konservatorium to mark 400 years of keyboard music. His music has been featured at the international 'Klangriffe' festival (2003) and the 'London New Wind' fesival (2007 &2008). Recent works include the Grand Partita for large orchestra. In 2011, a first volume of Stephen's music was published by the Berlin-based publishers Simon-Verlag fur Bibliothekwissen.
Equally acclaimed are his solo performances, which have received outstanding reviews. Stephen has given recitals throughout Britain and Germany. He has participated in masterclasses with Christopher Elton, Bernard Roberts, Arnaldo Cohen, Sergie Dorensky, Eduardo Hubert, and was a finalist at the Beethoven Intercollegiate competition 2000. Stephen has made recordings and given interviews for SWR (South German Radio).