Ed Stephan

Ed Stephan was named Principal Timpanist of the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra in August of 2001.  Ed came to Fort Worth from Boston, Massachusetts where he spent two years earning his Masters Degree from the New England Conservatory of Music as a student of Boston Symphony percussionist Will Hudgins and as a recipient of NEC’s Distinguished Performer’s Scholarship.  While in New England, Ed played percussion with the Rhode Island Philharmonic in Providence, RI and served as Timpanist of the Boston based National Lyric Opera of New England.  During his two years in Boston, Mr. Stephan maintained an active freelance schedule, appearing with, among others, the Boston Symphony Orchestra, the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra, the Portland Symphony, the New Haven Symphony, the Springfield Symphony and the Boston Modern Orchestra Project.  Ed was also awarded fellowships to the prestigious Tanglewood Music Center in the summers of 2000 and 2001.  His second fellowship was cut short by his appointment in Fort Worth.   Ed has had the opportunity to perform chamber music with such artists as Emanuel Ax, Yo-Yo Ma, Ursula Oppens, George Benson, Gil Shaham and John O’connor, to name a few.

Before moving to Boston, Mr. Stephan earned his Bachelor Degree from the University of North Texas in Denton, TX.  While at UNT Ed was honored by the College of Music faculty with the Outstanding Percussionist award in 1997 and 1998, followed by the College of Music’s Outstanding College of Music Performer award in 1999.  In addition to his studies at UNT, Mr. Stephan made frequent trips to his hometown of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to engage in study with John Soroka and Stanley Leonard of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra.  Ed can be heard as Timpanist on more than a dozen recordings produced by the North Texas Wind Symphony on the Klavier recording label under Eugene Corporon. On two of these recordings Ed is featured on both Michael Colgrass’s Déjà vu and David Gillingham’s Concerto for Percussion.

Now in his third season with the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra, Mr. Stephan is recognized as one of the most exciting and diverse young timpanists in the U.S. today – performing symphonic concerts, pops concerts, Opera, Ballet, chamber music and concertos throughout the Orchestra’s 52-week season.  Ed has had the opportunity to perform for some of the world’s most distinguished conductors – including Kurt Masur, Bernard Haitink, James Conlon, Robert Spano, Seiji Ozawa, Claudio Abbado, Roberto Abbado, John Nelson, Yoel Levi, Eri Klas, Sir Simon Rattle, Sir Neville Marriner and Michael Tilson Thomas, to name a few.  As an educator, Mr. Stephan is very active as a clinician/lecturer throughout the south and currently serves on the percussion faculty at the University of Texas at Arlington.  Ed proudly endorses Pearl Drums and Adams Musical Instruments.