Steven Hancoff (Guitar, Arranger)

Born: February 13, 1948 - Baltimore, Maryland, USA

The Amercan guitarist, writer and arranger, Steven Hancoff, studied at St. John’s College, where he obtained his Bachelor of Arts degree in 1970 ("The 100 Great Books of World"). He continued his studies at Rolf Institute: Boulder, Colorado (1981), Advanced Rolfer, Guild for Structural Integration (1992). He won First Prize at Scott Joplin Ragtime Festival in Sedalia, Missouri in 1975.

Steven Hancoff seved as Artistic Ambassador at USIA and US Stste Department, from 1993 to 2008.

Steven Hancoff's repertoire include Americana, Classical Ragtime, New Orleans Jazz, Duke Ellington, J.S. Bach Cello Suites.

Important Recordings: 2 Records - Classic Ragtime Guitar, Vol I (1976) & Vol II (1979); Steel String Guitar (1985); New Orleans Guitar Solo (1988); Duke Ellington for Guitar Solo (1995); Single Petal of A Rose (Duke Ellington) (2003); From Tragedy to Transcendence: The Six Suites for Cello Solo by J.S. Bach for Acoustic Guitar, BWV 1007- 1012 (3-CD Set, 2015).

The formal process of the transcriptions began in 2007. The entire project took 8 years (every day!!). This includes the recordings, the 4 Volume iBook: Bach, Casals and the Six Suites for Cello Solo, 2015, which includes 25 embedded videos, more than 1,000 historical pictures, and the largest collection of Bach inspired Art – Bachiana – ever compiled. There are also 14 YouTube Videos.

The Artist in his own words

Jazz Review Magazine once wrote that I am “an interpretive master who plays with fluidity, grace and passion.” Very cool!

I don’t know about that – but the critics who write about these things were mostly swept away by each of my four previous recordings - from Ragtime to Tin Pan Alley to New Orleans Jazz to Duke Ellington. Believe me, I have made sure you can read all the nice things they wrote – it’s all on my websites, stevenhancoff.com and stevehancoff.com. I only wish they’d sold more!

For about fifteen years, I toured the world – about 50 countries – as an official Artistic Ambassador representing the United States of America. And, boy, did I have some amazing experiences! So many grand adventures, all the interesting people, breathtaking places...

The concerts – the music and the story of the great American music tradition, woven together with tales of the men and women who created it – have captivated audiences everywhere.

Now, after years of intense devotion to what has become my life’s work, my four-volume iBook – Bach, Casals & the Six Suites for ‘Cello Solo, which -- believe it or not, started out as liner notes! – is all done and out in the world.

You can get my 3-CD recording (or digital downloads) of the From Tragedy to Transformation: Six Suites for ‘Cello Solo by J. Sebastian Bach for Acoustic Guitar on iTunes, CD Baby and wherever you can still buy CDs.

And to top it off, I will make the scores of my transcriptions of all 36 of these masterpieces available to any guitarists who want to get a look at them. I hope a lot of guitar players will take the opportunity to try their hands, so to speak, at learning to play this wonderful music.

Besides being a musician, I am a grateful graduate of tiny (My graduating class had 38 members.) St. John’s College, esteemed for its singular “One Hundred Great Books of the Western World” program. I have also been a Rolfer™ for more than 30 years, and I am proud to be a member of the Grand Canyon River Guides Association.

Source: The Artist (February 2016); Photos 01-02: Jiayi Lu
Contributed by Beth (Bat-Ami) Troy (February 2016)

Steven Hancoff: Short Biography | Recordings of Instrumental Works

Links to other Sites

Steven Hancoff (Official Website)