Main, Stephen
Born and raised in New York City, Stephen Main has music in his blood: his mother taught piano and his father, Tom Main, was a professional jazz trombonist with Si Zentner's band in the 1960’s. As a choirboy, Stephen sang at St. Thomas Church Fifth Avenue under Gerre Hancock. He went on to study violin, piano, organ, theory, and composition at the Choate School and then at Oberlin Conservatory. At the same time, he earned his B.A., M.A., and eventually his Ph.D. in Religious Philosophy from the University of Chicago.
Stephen is currently the Music Director at Piedmont Community Church in the Bay Area, where he composes and conducts regular choral and orchestral performances. Stephen is active as an organist, harpist, and conductor, with recent appearances in San Francisco, throughout Northern California, New York, Cincinnati, and Los Angeles. He lives in San Francisco and LA.
As a composer, Stephen’s work has included the recent publication of new choral and symphonic works, multiple commissions, and the completion of the scores for several films. He is a First Prize Winner of the John Ness Beck award for a new American choral work, and a 2007 winner of the American Composers Forum carol contest. The Minneapolis Star-Tribune hailed Stephen’s work as “evocative” music that “captures mystery.”