Stephen Chatman

b. 1950

Stephen Chatman C.M., D.M.A., one of Canada’s most prominent composers, is Professor of Composition at the University of British Columbia School of Music. He has received many commissions and composition awards, including 2005, 2006, 2010, and 2020 Western Canadian Music Awards “Classical Composition of the Year”, 2010 and 2012 SOCAN Jan V. Matejcek New Classical Music Award, three BMI Awards (New York), multiple JUNO nominations, Dorothy Somerset Award, Charles Ives Scholarship from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, and the 2001 BBC Masterprize short-list. In 2012, Dr. Chatman was appointed to the Order of Canada.

More than 100 of his works, published by E.C. Schirmer, Oxford University Press, Boosey & Hawkes, earthsongs, Frederick Harris, Dorn, Berandol, and T. Presser, have sold 500,000 printed copies.

Recordings include three choral collections performed by the Vancouver Chamber Choir: Due North (Centrediscs), Due West (CBC Records) Due East (Centrediscs), UBC Singers’ A Chatman Christmas (Centrediscs); a chamber music collection, Vancouver Visions (Centrediscs), choral/orchestral/instrumental collections, Proud Music of the Storm (Centrediscs), Earth Songs (Centrediscs), Magnificat (Centrediscs) and works on the ATMA, Naxos, Crystal, Skylark, and CRI labels.

Dr. Chatman’s choral pieces “are in wide demand in North America” (Historical Dictionary of Choral Music, 2010); his orchestral music has been commissioned by the CBC Radio Orchestra, Toronto, Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary, Madison, and Windsor symphonies and performed by the BBC Symphony, Berlin Radio Orchestra, Montreal, Sydney, Seoul, San Francisco, Winnipeg, Quebec, St. Louis, Calgary, Detroit, Dallas, and New World symphonies.

While at UBC, Dr. Chatman has trained many composers, including Glenn Buhr, John Burge, John Estacio, John Korsrud, Brent Lee, Jocelyn Morlock, Larry Nickel, John Oliver, Bob Pritchard, Douglas Schmidt, Paul Steenhuisen, and Neil Weisensel.