About Stephen Estep

In addition to composing the Tuesdays with Morrie music, Stephen has arranged and recorded music for the Fairborn Actor's Theatre's productions of A Carol's Christmas and Androcles and the Lion. He has performed in pit orchestras for several musicals, and helped the conductors work out timing, cuts, and transitions; he was also the assistant director for Miami University's 1997 production of Mozart's Marriage of Figaro.

He played keyboards, accordion, electric bass, organ, guitar, banjo, mandolin, and lap steel guitar in various bands, and has done quite a bit of songwriting, both music and lyrics. He has composed classical music for soloists, chamber groups, and full orchestra, and is familiar with the needs and strengths of most instruments. He is also an honorary member of the Waynesville High School Thespian Troupe 4558, Waynesville, Ohio.

He graduated from Cedarville University in 1997 with a Bachelor of Arts in Piano Performance, and studied at Miami University for his Master of Music, also in Piano Performance. He has been composing since his early teens: song cycles, chamber pieces, and a symphony for full orchestra; while at Miami, he studied composition with Dr. C. James Sheppard and Dr. G. Roger Davis. He has had experience with nearly every aspect of music production: recording, engineering, editing, producing, arranging, and performing.

He is also a music critic for the American Record Guide, has played accordion in a Mexican gospel band, and played as soloist with the Miami University Symphony Orchestra as a winner of the concerto competition. He is a freelance composer, accompanist, web designer, and book and record dealer, living in southwestern Ohio.