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Stephen Newby
A native of Detroit, Michigan, Stephen Michael Newby earned his Bachelor of Arts in vocal music education and flute performance from Madonna College in Livonia, Michigan. He earned his Master of Music in jazz composition and arranging from the University of Massachusetts in Amherst, where he studied under Robert Sutton, Frederick Tillis, Jeff Holmes, and Robert Stern. He earned his D.M.A. in musical arts in composition from the University of Michigan. There he studied with William Albright, Michael Daugherty, George Wilson, Fred Lerdahl, and Pulitzer Prize winners William Bolcom and Leslie Bassett. Newby’s compositions have earned him numerous awards and grants, including the National Endowment of the Arts St. Paul, Minnesota, Continental Harmony Grant; the King County Arts Commission of Washington Grant; The Rackham School Fellowship for Ethno-musicological Research in Dakar, Senegal; and, for his gospel/jazz oratorio “Be Still and Know,” the John Wesley Work III National Composers’ Award. Newby’s music has been performed by, the Cascade Youth Symphony, Seattle Symphony, Ann Arbor Symphony, Canton Symphony Orchestra, New Haven Symphony, Savannah Symphony, and the New World Theater Orchestra. He is head of composition at Seattle Pacific University, Center for Worship, Associate Professor of Music, and director of the Gospel Choir at Seattle Pacific University.
