Born in Manchester, Steven began his musical career on the cornet at the age of eleven. He later moved to euphonium, and then settled on baritone in 1986. A student at Salford College in Manchester, England where Steven graduated with distinction, he has studied with the Childs brothers, Roy Newsome, David King and Goff Richards, to name but a few.
He has been a member of various bands, including principle baritone of the world famous Black Dyke Mills, Leyland (formerly BNFL & JJB), YBS and the Young Ambassadors of Great Britain, and an impressive list of achievements with those bands includes wins at the British Open Championships, the National Championships and the European Championships.
As a soloist Steven has made a determined effort to promote the baritone as a solo instrument over the years and is widely regarded as the "champion" of the baritone’s cause. He has toured abroad, appearing as a soloist in various countries, including Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Holland, Japan, Switzerland, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the United States. One of the crowning achievements in his efforts to publicise the baritone as a solo instrument was his performance as the first ever British civilian soloist to appear at the Nova Scotia International tattoo in Halifax, Canada, to total live audiences of over 60,000, plus appearances on Canadian TV as both conductor and soloist. More recently Steven became the Australian National Baritone Champion in 2008.
Steven is an active composer and arranger, and has produced a number of works for the baritone, as well as commissioning new pieces, in his attempts to expand the small repertoire which is currently available. (For more details see Baritone Collection & Brass & Sheet Music pages).
Steven began his conducting career at the age of 15 with the Slaithwaite junior band and has never looked back.
As a conductor, Steven has led bands to success in numerous contests, including local and National Championships, Entertainment contests, Whit Friday competitions, as well as directing the British Open Quartet Champions in 1991, in addition to the usual wide variety of concerts and engagements both nationally and internationally.
Following several successful years conducting various bands in the UK Championship Section, Steven spent several months conducting Dalewool Auckland Brass on his move to New Zealand in April 2006, before becoming Professional Conductor of theTrusts Waitakere City Brass Band, one of the Southern Hemisphere's Premier Bands.
