PORTFOLIO
Stephen Webb is a composer and interdisciplinary artist whose work blends satire and humor to critique our collective escapism in a tech-driven, troubled world.
By placing materials outside of their assumed past, present, and future, Webb creates sardonic and melancholic worlds that leave audiences in distorted yet vaguely familiar landscapes. Recent compositional works include those for the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Lahti Symphony Orchestra, Jacksonville Symphony Youth Orchestra, Helsinki Chamber Choir, K!ART Ensemble, and the Defunensemble. He has exhibited at the Sounding Now Festival (Singapore), the 1646 Project Space (Hague), and the New Blood Performance Festival (Chicago). In 2021, his collaborative monologue opera Angels, Instead was shown at the Rupert Centre as part of the curatorial program of the 14th Baltic Triennial (Vilnius.) Other Artistic collaborations have included interdisciplinary dance work Performing Perception (Kallio Stage) with the Cite Collective and as a sculptor for Iskuin (Flow Festival). Webb holds a Master of Music in composition from the Sibelius Academy and a Bachelor of Musical Arts from the Chicago College of Performing Arts. He holds a minor in live art, completing coursework at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and the Theatre Academy in Helsinki. As a researcher, Webb was the recipient of a 2017 fellowship from the American Scandinavian Foundation to research the state of contemporary music in Finland as part of the country's centennial celebration of independence.
SELECTED WORK
PROGRAM SELECTION — 2023-ongoing
Theatrical work made with Robert Fleitz
“Program Selection” is a piano recital and performative essay that deals with human things like sex and sadness. It also deals with themes of anxiety and failure while examining the piano recital as a metaphor for problematic social constructs. Created with Robert Fleitz, the work blends live art, sound, video, theatre and choreography. The work will have its premiere in Fall 2025 at the Ģertrūdes ielas teātris in Latvia.
SÄVELLYSSANOMAT — 2024
for dramatic soprano Minna-Leena LahtiSävellyssanomat pulls text from Finnish newspapers, magazines and advertisements to reflect on the cultural impact of the 1990s recession. It follows Finland from the introduction of the euro and the rise of the IT bubble, to the beginning of Tarja Halonen's presidency. The work reflects both the sincere and satiric by tethering the text to various evocative genres, including baroque, jazz, and even a Finnish-style lullaby.
RADICAL ANGELS & ANGELS, INSTEAD — 2020-21
For the 1646 Project Space, Rupert Centre, and the Baltic Triennial
This two part series, a collaboration with Miša Skalskis and Jaakko Pallasvuo, examines angels as celestial bureacrats. The soundscape is formed from composed fragments recorded by mezzo-soprano Rachel McIntosh. In these two works we found parallels between the fantastical and the present, brought about by bold colors and a whimsical playfulness paired with a gnawingly sinister backdrop.
A SERVICE OF PARTS - 2021
For the K!ART ENSEMBLEA Service of Parts is a performative composition that takes inspiration from the symbolic and structural role of a Southern Baptist church service (a biographical reference to my childhood). Following the order of service, the work comments on the universal value of ceremony and symbolism when navigating pain, grief, and loss. The music makes coy references to the church service by, for example, truncating the musical material by a 10th during each repeat in the “offertory” —mirroring the edict that one should give a 10th of their earnings to the church.
MY GRIEVANCE WITH NOSTALGIA - 2020
written for the Lahti Symphony OrchestraMy Grievance with Nostalgia explores our obsession with remembered pasts. The work builds a landscape from which other styles emerge; a late romantic string quartet, a tango, and jazz music—all while attempting to impose filters and feedback on them. The work considers both the importance and dangers of nostalgia at a time when so many look backwards for fear of uncertain futures, such as those brought on by climate and ecological crises.
PERFORMING PERCEPTION — 2019
Created with Tero Hytönen, Teo Lanerva, Bea Tornberg,Suvi Kelloniemi, Elisa Lejeuna, and Verna Nordlund
Built from research looking at neuro-diverse and neuro-divergent experiences, the work is an excercise in creating imperceptible change over vast stretches of time. The work constantly renogotiates with the audience’s sight and experiences. Through distortion of perception, the work is able to elevate the mundane, destablize expectation, and force audiences to enter a state of hyper-awareness.
ANTI-DRAG — 2016
solo performance at SAIC
Anti-drag is a solo performance that explores my queerness in relation to maternal expectations. In the work, I present as a sculptural canvas, clad in a bridal gown, my skirt a screen to an imagined reality. The projection presents me dancing with the “negative” of a woman, a shapless dress and wig, representing both the present and unpresent female figures in my life.
REVIEWS
"Stephen Webbin A Service of Parts oli puoliksi koraalia, pehmeita pianosointuja (moderni
jazz & Messiaen), balttilais-puolalaista melankoliaa seka sellon huiluddnispektreja, puoliksi
Schoun performanssia, jossa han kaatoi samanaikaisesti vetta kannuun, s6i sielta
nostamansa omenan ja lausui runonomaisesti, mista teoksessa oli kyse: ainakin Sisyfos,
viemarit ja valtameret mainittiin."
-Santeri Kaipiainen, Musica borealis: viikonloppuarvio Uuden Musiikin
Lokakuusta, Rondo Lehti 8.10.2021
“Stephen Webbin My Grievance with Nostalgia-teoksessa hyédynnettiin ovelasti itse
konserttitlaa: parvelle ilmestyi jousikvartetti, jonka jalkiromanttisin tunnelmiin orkesteri
vastasi tummalla soinnillaan. Tama dualismi synnytti kauniin ja vakevan jannitteen. Webb
sai teokseensa apua Riika Talvitielta.”
- Petri Poutiainen, Etela Suomen Sanomat 19.9.2020
konserttitlaa: parvelle ilmestyi jousikvartetti, jonka jalkiromanttisin tunnelmiin orkesteri
vastasi tummalla soinnillaan. Tama dualismi synnytti kauniin ja vakevan jannitteen. Webb
sai teokseensa apua Riika Talvitielta.”
- Petri Poutiainen, Etela Suomen Sanomat 19.9.2020
“Stephen Webb’s My Grievance with Nostalgia (2020) has its roots, at least to some extent in
the music of Charles Ives, manifested by quarter-tone harmonies and spatial elements.
Scored for an offstage string quartet and orchestra, My Grievance with Nostalgia may be
seen as a contemporary formulation of The Unanswered Question (1906/1930-35).
However, it should be noted that Webb’s musical language is, in many ways, very different
from Ives’s. My Grievance with Nostalgia unravels in sublime, almost gentle manner, with
darker undercurrents. Musical ideas are exchanged and transformed in dialogue between
the onstage and offstage ensembles.
Emerging organically from the sonic fabric, there is bittersweet beauty in Webb’s
quarter-tone textures. My Grievance with Nostalgia may be analyzed in terms of meditation,
albeit far removed from trendy mindfulness practices.”
- Jari Kallio, Adventures in New Music Blog 18.9.2020
the music of Charles Ives, manifested by quarter-tone harmonies and spatial elements.
Scored for an offstage string quartet and orchestra, My Grievance with Nostalgia may be
seen as a contemporary formulation of The Unanswered Question (1906/1930-35).
However, it should be noted that Webb’s musical language is, in many ways, very different
from Ives’s. My Grievance with Nostalgia unravels in sublime, almost gentle manner, with
darker undercurrents. Musical ideas are exchanged and transformed in dialogue between
the onstage and offstage ensembles.
Emerging organically from the sonic fabric, there is bittersweet beauty in Webb’s
quarter-tone textures. My Grievance with Nostalgia may be analyzed in terms of meditation,
albeit far removed from trendy mindfulness practices.”
- Jari Kallio, Adventures in New Music Blog 18.9.2020
