Stephen Whale's artistry has been hailed as being 'from the heart...always with his formidable technique used to further the essence of each composer'
'sensational', 'jaw-dropping' and 'at the top of his game in his generation'.
Biography
Originally from Sydney, Australia, Whale has appeared at festivals such as Bergen International Festival, Norway; Kuhmo Chamber Music Festival, Finland; the International Holland Music Sessions, The Netherlands. Based in New York City since 2014, he was appointed Principal Artist for L'Archet Concert Group for the 2015-16 season, where he performed solo and duo recitals at Cohen Hall, East Stroudsburg University, PA. He has also performed on the Vaughan Recital Series at Dartmouth College.
In Australia, Whale has performed with the Queensland and Sydney University Orchestras, and at venues such as the Queensland Performing Arts Centre; Verbrugghen Hall at Sydney Conservatorium and Great Hall at Sydney University. He is currently undertaking the DMA program at the Graduate Center, City University of New York, where he was awarded the GC Chancellor's Fellowship. He has also received the Henderson Travelling scholarship and a grant from the PPCA Performers' Trust in Sydney. He holds degrees from Yale University, Sydney Conservatorium and a diploma from Grieg Academy, Norway.
Whale's principal teachers have been Boris Berman, Natalia Sheludiakova, Thomas Sauer and Audun Kayser; he has also studied extensively with Claude Frank, Wei-Yi Yang and Ilmo Ranta. He has collaborated with artists such as Boris Allakhverdyan (principal clarinet, Los Angeles Philharmonic), Emil Khudyev (principal clarinet, Seattle Symphony) and Farkhad Khudyev. He has performed major works and premieres by contemporary composers including Einojuhani Rautavaara (Finland) and Paul Salerni (USA).
Stephen is currently teaching music theory, ear training and keyboard harmony at Aaron Copland School of Music (Queens).