Stephen Hopkins
Music theorist, composer, and performer, Stephen Hopkins is an Associate Professor of Music at Penn State University. Before his arrival at Penn State in 2003, Hopkins served as Music Director at North Florida Community College for six years. He holds masters and Ph.D. degrees in music theory from Florida State University, where he was the recipient of a University Fellowship. His undergraduate degree is from the College of William and Mary.
Dr. Hopkins is a founding member of the Music Theory Society of the Mid-Atlantic, and was appointed Secretary Pro Tempore for the society's founding meeting. His research interests include the music of Scriabin and Messiaen, as well as jazz. His most recent paper, read at the Hawaii International Conference on Arts and Humanities in January 2007, is “Herbie Hancock’s Collaboration with Sting in a Performance of ‘Sister Moon’: A Renewal of Art Song in the Twenty-first Century.”
Hopkins’ compositions have been performed by various soloists, and vocal and instrumental ensembles in Florida, Pennsylvania, Missouri, and—most recently—Hawaii, where the composer performed his recent album of solo piano compositions, Meditations in Blue. Performances of Hopkins’ works at Penn State University include his anthem, “And the Glory of the Lord Filled the Temple,” performed by the University Choir in March 2006. In March 2007 Hopkins’ jazz tune, “Second Spring,” was performed by Professor of Saxophone David Stambler’s jazz sextet during the Penn State School of Music’s 2007 Jazz Festival, with guest artists Dick Oatts on alto saxophone and Jim McFalls on trombone.