Stephen Cohn
Encyclopedia
Stephen Cohn is a composer
of concert and film music living in Los Angeles
, California
. His compositional style embraces an expanded tonality
with a 21st century perspective.
, California
. His father was an attorney who wrote chamber music
as a hobby whilst his mother was a dancer and violin
ist and his sister a flutist
. Cohn studied the clarinet as a child and later, classical guitar. Cohn attended Whitman College
in Washington
and finished his Bachelor of Science
Degree with a major in music at California State University
at Northridge.
, also featuring guitarist and songwriter Robb Royer
(later of the popular 1970's band Bread
). This group, with Stephen on guitar and assisting with vocal arrangements, released their first single in 1966 under the name of The Rainy Day People , before becoming The Pleasure Fair and issuing a self-titled LP the following year.
His first string quartet
, Eye of Chaos was premiered by the Arditti Quartet
, who also recorded the work for release on an Albany Records
CD entitled, Arditti Quartet California Composers. His chamber orchestra work, Noah’s Rhythm was premiered at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art
, conducted by Pulitzer Prize
winning composer Steven Stucky
. He has been invited twice to be Composer in Residence at The International Musical Encounters of Catalonia which he attended in the south of France
. His violin
duet, Matin Sur les Collines de Ceret was performed at the Otzberg
Summer Festival in Germany
. In 2006, his orchestral work Finale, from Two Together, an American Folk Music Suite was premiered by the Kansas City Symphony
. The same work is part of an At Peace Media CD release which won at Parents’ Choice Gold Award in 2003. Also in 2006, his work for choir
and chamber orchestra commissioned by the Foundation
for Universal Sacred Music, entitled The Family of God was premiered at Merkin Hall in New York City
.
for “Outstanding Achievement in Music” for his chamber orchestra score for the documentary
"Dying with Dignity", starring Colleen Dewhurst
. He has also been given awards and commissions
by American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers, The American Composers Forum, Ann and Gordon Getty Foundation, The Harris Foundation, Joan Palevsky
, Carol and Joel Honigberg, The Television Academy of Arts and Sciences and The Parent’s Choice Foundation.
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
of concert and film music living in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
. His compositional style embraces an expanded tonality
Tonality
Tonality is a system of music in which specific hierarchical pitch relationships are based on a key "center", or tonic. The term tonalité originated with Alexandre-Étienne Choron and was borrowed by François-Joseph Fétis in 1840...
with a 21st century perspective.
Early life
Cohn was born and raised in Los AngelesLos Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
. His father was an attorney who wrote chamber music
Chamber music
Chamber music is a form of classical music, written for a small group of instruments which traditionally could be accommodated in a palace chamber. Most broadly, it includes any art music that is performed by a small number of performers with one performer to a part...
as a hobby whilst his mother was a dancer and violin
Violin
The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
ist and his sister a flutist
Flute
The flute is a musical instrument of the woodwind family. Unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is an aerophone or reedless wind instrument that produces its sound from the flow of air across an opening...
. Cohn studied the clarinet as a child and later, classical guitar. Cohn attended Whitman College
Whitman College
Whitman College is a private, co-educational, non-sectarian, residential undergraduate liberal arts college located in Walla Walla, Washington. Initially founded as a seminary by a territorial legislative charter in 1859, the school became a four year degree granting institution in 1883...
in Washington
Washington State
Washington State may refer to:* Washington , often referred to as "Washington state" to differentiate it from Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States* Washington State University, a land-grant college in that state- See also :...
and finished his Bachelor of Science
Bachelor of Science
A Bachelor of Science is an undergraduate academic degree awarded for completed courses that generally last three to five years .-Australia:In Australia, the BSc is a 3 year degree, offered from 1st year on...
Degree with a major in music at California State University
California State University
The California State University is a public university system in the state of California. It is one of three public higher education systems in the state, the other two being the University of California system and the California Community College system. It is incorporated as The Trustees of the...
at Northridge.
Career
Stephen's first public work came courtesy of the mid-1960s folk quartet The Pleasure FairThe Pleasure Fair
The Pleasure Fair was a musical performing group based in Los Angeles in the mid 1960s. The original group membership included Robb Royer, Tim Hallinan, Michele Cochrane and Stephen Cohn....
, also featuring guitarist and songwriter Robb Royer
Robb Royer
Robert Wilson "Robb" Royer was the bassist, guitarist, keyboardist, and songwriter with Bread from 1968 to 1971. While he was with the band, they had a #5 UK/#1 US hit single with "Make It With You"...
(later of the popular 1970's band Bread
Bread (band)
Bread was a rock band from Los Angeles, California. They placed 13 songs on the Billboard Hot 100 chart between 1970 and 1977 and were a prime example of what later was labeled soft rock....
). This group, with Stephen on guitar and assisting with vocal arrangements, released their first single in 1966 under the name of The Rainy Day People , before becoming The Pleasure Fair and issuing a self-titled LP the following year.
His first string quartet
String quartet
A string quartet is a musical ensemble of four string players – usually two violin players, a violist and a cellist – or a piece written to be performed by such a group...
, Eye of Chaos was premiered by the Arditti Quartet
Arditti Quartet
The Arditti Quartet is a string quartet founded in 1974. The quartet is associated particularly with contemporary music.-Early history:The quartet was founded in 1974 by violinist Irvine Arditti together with John Senter, Levine Andrade and Lenox Mackenzie...
, who also recorded the work for release on an Albany Records
Albany Records
Albany Records is an American classical music record label focusing particularly on contemporary classical music. It was established by Peter Kermani in 1987, and is based in Albany, New York.-External links:**...
CD entitled, Arditti Quartet California Composers. His chamber orchestra work, Noah’s Rhythm was premiered at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art
Los Angeles County Museum of Art
The Los Angeles County Museum of Art is an art museum in Los Angeles, California. It is located on Wilshire Boulevard along Museum Row in the Miracle Mile vicinity of Los Angeles, adjacent to the George C. Page Museum and La Brea Tar Pits....
, conducted by Pulitzer Prize
Pulitzer Prize
The Pulitzer Prize is a U.S. award for achievements in newspaper and online journalism, literature and musical composition. It was established by American publisher Joseph Pulitzer and is administered by Columbia University in New York City...
winning composer Steven Stucky
Steven Stucky
Steven Stucky is a Pulitzer Prize-winning American composer.Stucky was born in Hutchinson, Kansas. At age 9, he moved with his family to Abilene, Texas, where, as a teenager, he studied music in the public schools and, privately, viola with Herbert Preston, conducting with Leo Scheer, and...
. He has been invited twice to be Composer in Residence at The International Musical Encounters of Catalonia which he attended in the south of France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
. His violin
Violin
The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
duet, Matin Sur les Collines de Ceret was performed at the Otzberg
Otzberg
Otzberg is a municipality in the district of Darmstadt-Dieburg, located in the Odenwald. It was founded in 1972 by the merger of six former independent municipalities....
Summer Festival in Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
. In 2006, his orchestral work Finale, from Two Together, an American Folk Music Suite was premiered by the Kansas City Symphony
Kansas City Symphony
The Kansas City Symphony is a United States symphony orchestra based in Kansas City, Missouri. The current music director is conductor Michael Stern. The current home of the Symphony is the Lyric Theatre, located in Downtown Kansas City on 11th Street between Wyandotte and Central Streets...
. The same work is part of an At Peace Media CD release which won at Parents’ Choice Gold Award in 2003. Also in 2006, his work for choir
Choir
A choir, chorale or chorus is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform.A body of singers who perform together as a group is called a choir or chorus...
and chamber orchestra commissioned by the Foundation
Foundation (charity)
A foundation is a legal categorization of nonprofit organizations that will typically either donate funds and support to other organizations, or provide the source of funding for its own charitable purposes....
for Universal Sacred Music, entitled The Family of God was premiered at Merkin Hall in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
.
Awards
He was given an Emmy AwardEmmy Award
An Emmy Award, often referred to simply as the Emmy, is a television production award, similar in nature to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment, and is considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards and the Grammy Awards .A majority of Emmys are presented in various...
for “Outstanding Achievement in Music” for his chamber orchestra score for the documentary
Documentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
"Dying with Dignity", starring Colleen Dewhurst
Colleen Dewhurst
Colleen Rose Dewhurst was a Canadian-American actress known for a while as "the Queen of Off-Broadway." In her autobiography, Dewhurst wrote: "I had moved so quickly from one Off-Broadway production to the next that I was known, at one point, as the 'Queen of Off-Broadway'...
. He has also been given awards and commissions
Commission (art)
In art, a commission is the hiring and payment for the creation of a piece, often on behalf of another.In classical music, ensembles often commission pieces from composers, where the ensemble secures the composer's payment from private or public organizations or donors.- Commissions for public art...
by American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers, The American Composers Forum, Ann and Gordon Getty Foundation, The Harris Foundation, Joan Palevsky
Joan Palevsky
Joan Palevsky , a former wife of Max Palevsky, was an investor and philanthropist who contributed to many charitable organizations during her lifetime and after....
, Carol and Joel Honigberg, The Television Academy of Arts and Sciences and The Parent’s Choice Foundation.
Performances
A selected list of performances of music by Stephen Cohn is below.- Eye of Chaos - Los Angeles - 1991, Belgium - 1993, London - 1995, Ceret, France - 2004,
- Noah's Rhythm - Los Angeles - 1994
- Matin Sur Les Collines de Ceret Ceret, France - 1996, 2002, Otzberg, Germany - 2004,
- Moods Of a Goddess - Chicago, 2000, Ceret, France - 2002,
- Out of the Ashes - Ceret, France - 2002,
- Anticipation of Light - The International Musical Encounters of Catalonia - 2004,
- Where is Peace? - Mixed Choir - Fort Worth - 2004
- Evolution and Remembrance - Ceret, France - 2004,
- The Family of God - Merkin Hall, New York City - 2006,
- Finale, from Two Together, An American Folk Music Suite - Kansas City Symphony - 2007,
- Metaphors and Contrasts - The Midnight Winds - Los Angeles - 2008,
- Anticipation of Light - The Jung Trio - Los Angeles - 2008,
- Essay for Guitar - Shiri Coneh - Berlin - 2009
- A Warrior's Paradox - Stephen B. Cook - Los Angeles - 2010,
- Moods of a Goddess - Stephen B. Cook - Los Angeles - 2010,
- Seven Dances - Stephen B. Cook - Los Angeles - 2010,
Film and TV Scores
A selected list of material that has been used or featured in film and television pieces, is found below.- Dying with Dignity - Emmy Award - Outstanding Achievement in Music,
- Calrton,Your Doorman - MTM Productions/CBS - Emmy Award Winning Production,
- Nickel and Dime - feature film - Columbia/RCA
- Hunger in the Promised Land - Emmy Award Winning Production,
- ITIt (1990 film)It is a 1990 horror television miniseries based on the novel of the same name. The story revolves around an inter-dimensional predatory life-form that is simply referred to as "It", which has the ability to transform itself into its prey's worst fears allowing it to exploit the fears and phobias...
- ABC Television - Emmy Award Winning Production, - Land of the FreeLand of the Free (film)This article is about the film 'Land of the Free'. For other uses, see Land of the Free .Land of the Free is a film released in 1998, directed by Jerry Jameson and starring Jeff Speakman and William Shatner.- Plot summary :...
- feature film, PM Entertainment, - PitchPitch (film)A pitch is a concise verbal presentation of an idea for a film or TV series generally made by a screenwriter or director to a producer or studio executive in the hope of attracting development finance to pay for the writing of a screenplay."Pitch" is a contraction of the phrase "sales pitch"...
- feature film, Nucleus Entertainment, - AngelfistAngelfistAngelfist is a 1993 action/thriller film starring Catya Sassoon, Michael Shaner, and Melissa Moore. Directed by Cirio H. Santiago, the film was produced by Santiago and Roger Corman....
- feature film, Concorde/New Horizons, - Normality – short film, Tango Productions,
- Under the RainbowUnder the RainbowUnder the Rainbow is a 1981 comedy film starring Chevy Chase, Carrie Fisher, Eve Arden, and Billy Barty.The plot is loosely based on the gathering of little people in a Hollywood hotel, to audition for roles as Munchkins in the movie The Wizard of Oz...
– feature film (orchestrations) - Warner Brothers Pictures