Allan Stephenson was born in Wallasey, Cheshire in England and studied piano from the age of seven and the ‘cello at thirteen. He entered the Royal Manchester College of Music in 1968 and left with an A.R.M.C.M in 1972.
He came to South Africa in 1973 as sub-principal ‘cellist with the Cape Town Symphony Orchestra, a position he held until the demise of the orchestra.
Stephenson’s debut with the CTSO saw the first performance of his 1st Symphony, a work begun on the pier at Llandudno, Wales, and completed in Cape Town. Since then he has conducted all the major symphony orchestras in South Africa in concert and ballet performances. Stephenson’s repertoire is large and wide-ranging, incorporating orchestral and choral music and he has been responsible for a number of first performances in the country from Nielsen’s Inextinguishable to P D Q Bach’s 1712 Overture. With his Concertino Pastorale for Clarinet he produced the first serious music CD to be made in South Africa and has recorded many works by South African composers Zaidal-Rudolph’s At the End of the Rainbow Klatzow’s States of light and his Brahm’s transcription of the string quintet in G major, Thomas Rajna’s 2nd Piano Concerto and Harp concerto, to name a few. From 1978-1988 he was the music director of the UCT SA College of Music Orchestra and founded the Cape Town Chamber Orchestra and Musicanti ( a String Chamber Orchestra) for a number of seasons.
Stephenson’s catalogue of works now numbers over a hundred compositions in all genres from orchestral to chamber, three operas, (including The Orphans of Qumbu – which has seen some 3,000 orphans of all races taking part), the opera who-dunnit Who killed Jimmy Valentine and last year the musical Wonderfully Wicked and concerti for almost every orchestral instrument.
As well as the concert platform, in indoor and outdoor venues, Stephenson can be found in the orchestra pit conducted his own ballet/ballet arrangements, (Tales of Hoffman, Camille and Sylvia in Hollywood – all to choreography by Veronica Paeper) or others (Raymonda, Don Quixote, Merry Widow). He conducted the SABC’s very successful first season of performances of Romeo and Juliet with a live orchestra at the Civic Theatre, Johannesburg. He has worked with many overseas soloists including Boris Belkin, Jean Volondat, Karine Georgian as well as local artists Thomas Rajna, Oliver de Groote, Peter Jacobs, Aviva Pelham, Hanli Stapela, Hugh Masekela to name a few.