Stephen Lalor : Associate Artist
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Stephen Lalor studied at the University of New South Wales (M.Mus) and the Tchaikovsky Conservatorium Kiev where he undertook post–graduate studies in composition with Prof. Gennady Lyashenko, conducting and Russian mandolin/domra. His studies in the USSR were supported by Australian and Soviet government scholarships.
As a composer, Lalor's music covers a range of styles and genres, including opera, music theatre, musicals, ballet, film, choral, vocal, theme and instrumental music. It has been performed and/or commissioned by major bodies including Opera Australia, The Melbourne Festival, The Queensland Ballet and Opera House Choral Concerts.
A selection of Lalor's music is published in the USA and Europe by Drake Mabry Publishing, and distributed by CPEA Paris. It has been performed in several European venues and in North America, as well as in Australia. A CD featuring his Miniatures for Mandolin and Guitar was released by German ensemble Trio Magique in 2005. Other pieces are regularly performed by UK–based Duo Mandala.
In 2003/4 Lalor was awarded a Churchill Fellowship to research the creation and delivery of Popular & World Music courses in European conservatoria and universities.
A plucked string specialist, Lalor has been the resident mandolinist and plectrum guitarist with the Sydney Symphony since the mid–1990s, appearing in concert with performers such as Bryn Terfel, Luciano Pavarotti and violist Yuri Bashmet, mainly at the Sydney Opera House. These performances have included premieres and international broadcasts of pieces by major contemporary figures such as John Adams.
In partnership with SSO principal harpist Louise Johnson, Lalor has performed and recorded for ABC Radio and television programs, mainly playing his own compositions and arrangements. This partnership was featured on the 2002 ABC Classics CD release The Nightingale, and regularly heard on ABC Classic FM.
Lalor's musical roots are in World Music – his multi–ethnic family tree includes Russian, Spanish, Irish, Welsh and Manx forbears. In his late teens he directed the Russian instrumental group Domraand is known in World Music circles for his work with The Karpatsky Guitars (sell–out 2004 Sydney Festival concert with celebrated Romanian Gypsy group Taraf de Haidouks) and Nadya's101 Candles Orkestra, which toured Europe in July 2005, playing at the 2005 Montreux Jazz Festival before performing in Paris.
Lalor also performs as a guest artist with Aboriginal groups including The Stiff Gins and The Black Turtles. He was mandolinist on the 2005 Stiff Gins CD Kingia Australis. He is currently Head of Contemporary Performance at the Australian Institute of Music.
Biography provided by the composer — current to April 2008