Josephine Stephenson
Born1990
Les Lilas, France
NationalityFrench and British
Occupation(s)composer, arranger, singer, instrumentalist
Websitejosephinestephenson.com

Josephine Stephenson (born 1990) is a French-British composer, arranger, singer and instrumentalist who works across a variety of musical genres.[1]

Early life and education

Stephenson learned cello and piano as a child, and as a teenager attended the Maîtrise de Radio France (the choir school of Radio France).[2] After briefly studying Philosophy at the Sorbonne University in Paris,[3] she moved to the UK where she attended Clare College, University of Cambridge as a choral scholar and received a Bachelor’s degree in Music. She later obtained a Master’s degree in Composition from the Royal College of Music, having studied under Kenneth Hesketh.[4] In 2017-2019 she was a 'Writing The Future' composer with the London Sinfonietta.[5]

Career

During her Masters studies, Stephenson's orchestration was likened to Claude Vivier,[6] and her first short opera On False Perspective was staged in the Britten Theatre, co-produced by Tête à Tête and the Royal College of Music.[7]

In 2015 she collaborated with FellSwoop Theatre on a devised piece of musical theatre, Ghost Opera, first performed at the Aix-en-Provence Festival[8] and developed with The Lowry.[9] In the same year she won ‘Best Composer’ at Underwire Film Festival for her work on the short film Emma, Change The Locks.[10]

In 2016 Stephenson was commissioned by Radio France to write a piece for the Maîtrise, Ce n'était pas nous, premiered at the Maison de la Radio.[11]

She contributed to the world’s first concerto for drum machine and orchestra in 2018, in a night curated by Nonclassical at Village Underground.[12] The same year, after working with the band Daughter,[13] Stephenson joined singer Elena Tonra's solo project, Ex:Re, playing cello, providing backing vocals, and arranging songs.[14] In February 2021, an arrangement by Stephenson of Tonra's album with the 12 Ensemble string orchestra, was released.[15]

Stephenson's song cycle Une Saison en Enfer, on text by Arthur Rimbaud, was written for and premiered by Allan Clayton, Aurora Orchestra, and conductor Brett Dean at the Wigmore Hall in London, December 2019.[16] It was nominated for the Ivor Novello Awards in 2020.[17]

A singer and multi-instrumentalist, she has appeared on albums by the Arctic Monkeys and Jon Hopkins, among others.

She is one of the three artistic directors of the London-based concert series and record label Listenpony, alongside Freya Waley-Cohen and William Marsey.[18]

Stephenson won an Ivor Novello Award at The Ivors Classical Awards 2023. Comme l'espoir / You Might All Disappear, composed for soprano and guitar, won the award for Best Small Chamber Composition.[19] [20]

Notable works

Vocal

  • Une saison en enfer (2019) for tenor and string orchestra (Wigmore Hall commission)[16]
  • Between the war and you (2017) for soprano, clarinet, harp and double bass (Spitalfields Music commission) [21]

Choral

  • Into the Wreck (2021) for mixed chorus and narrator [22]
  • Now that heaven and earth and the wind are silent (2017) for SATB choir (Spitalfields Music commission) [21]
  • Ce n'était pas nous (2016) for children's voices (Radio France commission)[2]
  • if only (2015) for 40 voices (Bristol Old Vic commission)[23]

Ensemble

Chamber

  • Lignéchos (2017) for violin, clarinet and piano (Miroirs Étendus commission)[24]
  • All casual bits and scraps, assembled (2015) for percussion quartet

Solo

  • Cut Hold (2018) for solo cello (London Sinfonietta commission)
  • Enero (2018) for solo guitar
  • Sestina (2015) for solo piano
  • Anamnesis (2013) for solo cello

Orchestra

Opera

  • NARCISSE (2019) (ARCAL Lyrique commission)[25]
  • Les Constellations - Une Théorie (2016) (Miroirs Étendus commission, Opéra de Lille co-production)
  • Ghost Opera (2015)
  • On False Perspective (2014)

Album contributions

Year ArtistAlbumRoleLabel
2016RadioheadA Moon Shaped Poolsoprano (with London Contemporary Orchestra)XL recordings
2018Jon HopkinsSingularitysolo vocal on “Feel First Life”Domino
2018Arctic MonkeysTranquility Base Hotel & CasinopianoDomino
2018We Were EvergreenOverseasstring arrangementsBecause Music
2018Ana SilveraOraclessinger, choir leader, arrangementsGearbox Records
2018JamesLiving in Extraordinary TimeschoirInfectious Music
2018Thom YorkeSuspiriasoprano (with London Contemporary orchestra)XL Recordings
2018Ex:ReEx:Recello, backing vocals4AD, Glassnote Records
2019Hayden ThorpeDivinerbacking vocalsDomino
2019Thom YorkeAnimasoprano (with London Contemporary orchestra)XL Recordings
2019Lisa Hannigan and stargazeLive in Dublinarrangements on “Nowhere to Go” and “Little Bird”PIAS Recordings
2019ShardsFind SoundsopranoErased Tapes Records
2020James RightonThe Performerpiano, farfisa, additional string arrangementsDeeWee Records
2020NZCA LinesPure Luxurystring arrangementsMemphis Industries
2021Ex:Re, Josephine StephensonEx:Re with 12 Ensemblearrangements, piano, backing vocals4AD, Glassnote Records
2021Damon AlbarnThe Nearer the Fountain, More Pure the Stream Flowscello, vocalsTransgressive

References

  1. ↑ "What does it mean to be a composer today?". Gramophone. 4 October 2019.
  2. 1 2 Christian, Wasselin (15 March 2016). "C'EST ELLE, JOSÉPHINE". Maison de la Radio (in French).
  3. 1 2 "Josephine Stephenson on composition". Brittensinfonia.com. 6 November 2019. Retrieved 10 October 2020.
  4. ↑ "Josephine Stephenson". British Music Collection. 6 March 2017. Retrieved 6 July 2020.
  5. ↑ "Writing the Future". London Sinfonietta. Retrieved 6 July 2020.
  6. 1 2 Wright, Katie (21 September 2013). "Sinfonia d'Amici/Harry Ogg with Emily Ross at LSO St Luke's – Twilight Works: world premiere of Josephine Stephenson's Abend". Classical Source.
  7. ↑ "Brilliance five ways: Hogarth's Stages at the Royal College of Music". Bachtrack.
  8. ↑ Elise, Ortega (18 July 2015). "GHOST OPERA, UN PROJET BIEN RÉEL". Festival International d'Art Lyrique d'Aix-en-Provence.
  9. ↑ "COMPOSER ON GHOST OPERA'S 'DEVELOPED WITH' JOURNEY SO FAR…". 12 October 2015.
  10. ↑ "Unerwire Festival: And the winners are..." Underwire Festival. 23 November 2015.
  11. ↑ "Joséphine Stephenson : "Ce n'était pas nous" sous la direction de Morgan Jourdain". France Musique (in French). 9 February 2018. Retrieved 6 July 2020.
  12. 1 2 "Writing a concerto for a drum machine..." Nonclassical. 9 March 2018. Retrieved 10 October 2020.
  13. ↑ Hooton, Christopher (19 April 2018). "Exclusive: Watch Daughter's beautiful one-take video for 'All I Wanted'". The Independent. Archived from the original on 17 June 2022.
  14. ↑ "Introducing Ex:Re, The Solo Recordings of Elena Tonra from Daughter". 4AD. 26 November 2018.
  15. ↑ Triscari, Caleb (17 February 2021). "Daughter's Elena Tonra announces reinterpretation of solo debut album 'Ex:Re'". NME.
  16. 1 2 Karlin, David (5 December 2019). "World premiere of Josephine Stephenson's Une Saison en Enfer lights up Aurora at Wigmore Hall". Bachtrack.
  17. ↑ "The Ivors Composer Awards 2020 Nominations Announced". Ivors Academy. 3 November 2020.
  18. ↑ Pianist, The Cross-Eyed (17 September 2016). "Listenpony releases its first live EP". The Cross-Eyed Pianist. Retrieved 6 July 2020.
  19. ↑ Taylor, Mark (18 October 2023). "Nominees announced for The Ivors Classical Awards 2023". The Ivors Academy. Retrieved 18 October 2023.
  20. ↑ Taylor, Mark (14 November 2023). "Winners of The Ivors Classical Awards 2023 announced". The Ivors Academy. Retrieved 15 November 2023.
  21. 1 2 Brown, Geoff. "Concert review: House of Monteverdi at Shoreditch Church, E1". The Times. Retrieved 27 February 2021.
  22. ↑ Thompson, Simon. "Lammermuir Festival at St Mary's Church review — luminous beauty and instinctive empathy". The Times. Retrieved 8 December 2021.
  23. ↑ "The Erebus Ensemble: Songs of Hope in 40 Voices". Classic FM. Retrieved 27 February 2021.
  24. ↑ "Trios avec clarinette" (PDF). Opéra de Lille. Retrieved 27 February 2021.
  25. ↑ "Narcisse, opéra déconnexion". Olyrix. Retrieved 27 February 2021.
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