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The Australian conductor, bass and artistic director, Jack Stephens, obtained his Studied Bachelor of Arts/Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Sydney (2015-2019). He was Choral Scholar at Christ Church St Laurence (August 2015-October 2018). He obtained his Bachelor of Music degree with Honours from the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, The University of Sydney (January-December 2020). He has completed a Doctorate at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music (2021-2023) looking at the stagings of J.S. Bach's Passions, supervised by Dr Erin Helyard and Dr Rowena Cowley. In 2020 he was a Reserve Finalist for the Royal Melbourne Philharmonic Aria Competition, and in 2021 won the Audience Prize at the Sydney Cantorion Singing Competition.
Jack Stephens was Choir Tutor & Principal Lay Clerk at St Andrew's Cathedral Sydney (July 2018-April 2022). Currently, he is the Director of Music at St Paul’s College, Sydney (since November 2022). He has been regarded for his “artistic brilliance” (TheMusicTrust), and under his direction the St Paul’s College Chapel Choir has been noted for its “faultless performances” and “exquisite musical beauty” (CanberraCityNews 2023). Most recently he directed numerous services Westminster Abbey, St Paul’s Cathedral London, Canterbury Cathedral and York Minster, as well as concerts in Paris at Saint-Eustache, La Madeleine and Saint-Sulpice.
Since 2023, Jack Stephens has been the Artistic Director of the Sydney Cantata Project, performing regular concerts of the cantatas of J.S. Bach on period instruments. With six concerts annually across churches throughout Sydney, recent soloists in the project have included Helen Sherman, Andrew Goodwin, Sally-Anne Russell, Richard Butler, and more, with six Cantata Concerts programmed for 2025.
Jack Stephens performs regularly as a soloist at the Canberra International Music Festival, Albury Chamber Music Festival, New England Bach Festival and the Four Winds Festival Bermagui, and from 2020-2023 was a core member of the Canberra-based consort Luminescence Chamber Singers with Roland Peelman. He has performed as a soloist across Australia with Bach Akademie Australia, the Song Company, Victoria Chorale, St David’s Cathedral Hobart, as well as performed with Cantillation, St Mary’s Cathedral Choir, St Andrew's Cathedral Choir Sydney, St George’s Cathedral Consort Perth and the West Australian Symphony Orchestra.
Jack Stephens is also the Artistic Director and Producer of Opera in the Quad, and in 2023 completed a three-year cycle directing the complete operas of Purcell; 2021 King Arthur (featuring Peter Cousens and Chloe Lankshear); 2022 Dido & Aeneas (featuring Sally-Anne Russell, Celeste Lazarenko and Andrew Goodwin); 2023 The Fairy Queen (featuring Brianna Morrison and Andrew O'Connor), and in 2024 directed an Australian-premiere of Lampe’s The Dragon of Wantley alongside the Muffat Collective and Peter Coleman-Wright AO. In addition, he is the Producer and Director of ‘Victoriana!’, Australia’s longest-running theatrical production held at St Paul’s College, that recently celebrated its 60th annual production.
Jack Stephens performs and tours with pianist Ronan Apcar, and in 2023 played the role of Prince Philip in Tom Rimes’ new opera Annus Horribilis alongside Narelle Yeo and Simon Lobelson in Hobart. In addition, he has performed extensively across Europe, performing at Snape Maltings, St Paul’s Cathedral London, Saint-Eustache and in Hannover with the Konzertchor Kleefeld and the Stadtkantorei Gehren. He has worked with David Hill, Simon Halsey, John Rutter, Barry Rose, Noël Tredinnick, and broadcast on the BBC and ABC.
Jack Stephens also works for the Australian Chamber Orchestra, regularly giving their pre-concert talks throughout the year, and in 2025 will present talks at the Bachfest Leipzig, Tasmanian Chamber Music Festival and the Australian Chamber Music Festival., which recently presented Purcell's King Arthur' narrated by Peter Cousens.
In addition to performing as a singer, Jack Stephens also plays the French Horn, and in 2014 was named the Suffolk UK Wind Champion. In 2018, he was a concerto soloist alongside Robert Johnson (former Principal Horn of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra) in Robert Schumann's Konzertstück (Concerto for Four Horns) and in 2018 was the winner of the Ryde Multi-Instrumentalist Eisteddfod. In 2017, he was featured on NBC and Channel 9’s True Story with Hamish and Andy involving tales of musical tragedy and triumph, where an event in his life was recreated by comedians such as Kitty Flanagan and Ed Kavalee in the episode titled: “Jack’s French Horn” and has been broadcast around the world. |
