Stephen Bachicha is a composer most interested in blending the beauty and fun in both listening to and performing music. He has had solo as well as ensemble works performed throughout the United States and in parts of Europe. Stephen was born in Santa Fe, NM in 1980, and lived there until 1994 when he and his family moved to Minnesota. After receiving his Bachelors degree from the Setnor School of Music at Syracuse University studying composition with Nicolas Scherzinger. Daniel Godfrey and Liu Zhang, and Culinary Arts from Master Chef Greg Zemore he continued his studies at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas where he received his Master’s degree studying composition with Virko Baley and Jorge Villavicencio-Grossmann and conducting with Taras Krysa and Takayoshi “Tad” Suzuki. Stephen also studied with James Mobberly, Chen Yi, and Zhou Long at the Conservatory of Music and Dance at the University of Missouri, Kansas City.
At Syracuse University, he was the recipient of the Virginia K. Hickey Scholarship in Music. At UNLV, he received the Susan L. Johnson Scholarship in Choral Studies, and most recently at Rice University, He is the recipient of the Bertha Mallard Scholarship in Music Composition. “New Mexico Fragments” for Mezzo-Soprano and Piano was named third place in the NATS Art Song Composition Competition in 2011. Stephen has received many commissions for his new music and has been privileged to have his music performed by such wonderful performers as: Susanne Mentzer, Brian Connelly, Julianna Sabol, Greg Wood, Andrew Smith, Megan Lanz, and Katharine Caliendo has also had choral works premiered by the Eden Prairie High School Concert Choir and the UNLV Chamber Chorale. He has attended the SoundSCAPE international music festival in Pavia, Italy, the UNLV NEON festival, GAMMA-UT in Austin, and recently, the Cortona Sessions for new music, and highSCORE new music festival in Italy. Stephen has recently graduated from Rice University with a DMA in composition where he studied with Kurt Stallmann and Art Gottschalk.