STEPHEN BEVILLE - BIOGRAPHY
Acclaimed as 'one of the most talented young musicians to emerge from the
UK' (Frankfurt Neue Press), Stephen Beville started to play the piano and
compose at the age of eleven. As pianist, Beville made is 'concerto debut' while
still at school and has gone on to perform with orchestras such as the Baden
Philharmonie.
From 1989-94, he attended the Royal Academy of Music (Junior Academy)
learning piano, composition and conducting. Having won a Yamaha
scholarship, he then read Music at the Universities of York and Huddersfield
and studied piano with Peter Katin. He graduated in 1998 with First Class
Honours and was awarded the Wilfred Mellers prize and the Rodwell Prize.
Beville continued his studies at the Royal Northern College of Music where his teachers included Benjamin
Frith for piano. He was awarded the Postgraduate Diploma and Mmus for performance and composition, as
well as the Professional Performance Diploma with Distinction - the highest accolade of the RNCM. Beville has
won scholarships for piano and composition and was the recipient of the Lucy Pierce Award. He performed
with the RNCM Symphony Orchestra, Chamber Orchestra and New Ensemble in a range of music, not least his
own work.
In 2001, Beville won a DAAD scholarship to study composition with Wolfgang Rihm at the Staadt Hochschule
fur Musik, Karlsruhe. There he obtained two Konzertexamens for composition and performance with highest
marks. In addition he received a scholarship from the Heinrich Strobel Foundation (Freiburg) to support his
studies where he explored possibilities of live instrumental performance with electronic resources available at
the computer studio. This resulted in compositions with piano such as The Echoing Sky, the Michelangelo
Pieces and Fashionism - Scenes of Youth for piano, electric guitar, percussion and electronics.
Beville's music has been performed in such venues as the RAM, British Music Information Centre, The
Barbican, Kings College (London), the RNCM, Exeter Cathedral , the ZKM (Centre for Art and Media), HFG, Insel
Theatre (Karslruhe) and the BKA Theatre (Berlin); under such conductors as Martyn Brabbins and Andre de
Ridder. The early Chamber Concerto was selected by the Society for the Promotion of New Music and received
performances from the Manson Ensemble and Music Projects - London. Other pieces that have been
shortlisted by the SPNM include Ballade for Eight Players, Epicycle and Purgatory Pieces. Epicycle was first
performed by the RNCM New Ensemble in 2000 before being revised for its German premiere by the Badische
Staadtskapelle in 2004. Recent worksinclude Grand Partita for Speaker and Orchestra (texts taken from
philosopher Hans-Georg Gadamer). In 2011, a first volume of Beville's music was published by Simon-Velag
fur Bibliothekwissen, Berlin.
As soloist, Beville has given recitals throughout Britain and Germany, his performances receiving some
outstanding reviews. He has participated in international festivals such as the Huddersfield Contemporary
Music festival, RNCM 'Glories of the Keyboard' and 'Amercian Reflections' festivals, the 'Klangriffe' festival of
New Music and the London New Wind festival. He has made recordings and given interviews for SWR (South-
West German Radio) and SW British radio.
In 2012, his debut release 'Stephen Beville in Karlsruhe' (comprising recordings of piano music by Beethoven,
Chopin, Schumann and Boulez) was released to critical acclaim on the Divine Art label.