STEPHEN BEVILLE - BIOGRAPHY
Acclaimed in 2010 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 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 at the Staadt Hochschule fur Musik, Karlsruhe.
There he obtained two Konzertexamens for performance and composition 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, Andre de
Ridder and Ivor Settersfield. 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 before being revised for its German premiere by
the Badische Staadtskapelle in 2004. Recent works include Kyrie (2020) and Every Man (2022) for chorus and
orchestra - the latter a setting of words by the painter Wassily Kandinsky. 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 Media-Mix 96, 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 stations.
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. A new recording 'Visions
and Ventures' of music by J.S Bach, Prokofiev and Beethoven as recently been released on the same label.