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"Lalor's Flying is passionate, wistful music that's instantly affecting".

'Its long and beautiful melodic lines seem to lift us high above the clouds, propelled by gentle yet insistent rhythms motoring away underneath. In its calmer moments there's a sense of weightlessness, of effortlessly floating through the air, but the momentum always returns to carry us forwards on our journey' - Sydney Symphony Orchestra online, 3 February 2002

https://www.sydneysymphony.com/backstage-news/stephen-lalor-flying

"New orchestral piece sparkles like the lake .. A sensationally uplifting concert overture .. exceptional new work by Dr Stephen Lalor"

- InTouch Magazine, Autumn 2022 review of "Mima Concert Overture" premiere

Dr Stephen Lalor's compositions Ethnicities of Sound were described as 'sophisticated, compelling, cosmopolitan music compositions... beautifully rendered and replete with new sounds and virtuosic techniques that are deeply embodied by a musician-composer who is a specialist in the field of plucked instruments...' (Dr Aileen Dillane, University of Limerick, Ireland)

'a multi-lingual music-maker' whose music is 'moody, folk-flavoured, ranging from powerful, soulful lyricism to the wistful, catchy ride of Flying' (Sydney Morning Herald review of the 2017 recording Music of Stephen Lalor by the Sydney Symphony's Chanterelle String Quartet, 10 March 2018).

'A very beautiful and beautifully crafted work' - Dr Jim Bates, conductor of US premiere of Stephen Lalor's 'Australis Suite', Center for the Performing Arts, Illinois State University October 12 2019

"Stephen Lalor's 'Waltz' & 'Antipodie' (1994) exude a cool, Satiesque aloofness" - Australian Piano Music of the 20th Century (Sitsky,L; Praeger Pulishers, Westport, CT, USA 2005)

• PhD Composition (USyd)
• MMus Musicology (UNSW)
• Tchaikovsky Conservatorium Kiev postgrad studies in composition (G. I. Lyashenko), conducting (Y.V. Tarnopolsky) & domra (N.T. Lysenko)
• Churchill Fellow 2003

His compositions span opera, music theatre, symphonic, musicals, ballet, film, choral, vocal, theme and instrumental music, and has been performed by most major orchestras, ensembles and Festivals. This music is recorded and broadcast nationally by the ABC and overseas artists.

A selection of Stephen Lalor's music is published by Trekel Verlag, Hamburg. Representative pieces are in the collections of the Médiathèque Musicale Mahler (Paris) & the US Library of Congress.

Recent & upcoming performances/recordings of his work include:

2022:

• MIMA Concert Overture for symphony orchestra - commissioned for Lake Maquarie Philharmonic by MIMA Arts Centre (1 May)
• Australis Suite recorded by SMO on CD "Mosaic" (May)
• Bukovina Odyssey - The Metroplitan Orchestra (Sydney, 5 June)
• A Bridge Across Time - premiered at The Australian Chamber Orchestra's Nielsen Hall (23 October). Commissioned by The Sydney Mandolin Orchestra.
• Sydney Symphony performances of his string quartets (City Recital Hall, Angel Place)

2023:

• Piaclavi Trio for violin, clarinet & piano commissioned by Dunlop/Ziegler/Miller Trio
• MIMA Concert Overture - The Metropolitan Orchestra (20 August)
• string quartets performed by The Metropolitan Orchestra (16 September)
• string quartets and Kavkaz for clarinet quintet: Mosman Music Series 10 Sept (Francesco Celata clarinet)

2024

• Manouche Waltz The Metropolitan Orchestra Chamber Concert 25 August
• MIMA Concert Overture: Sydney Youth Orchestra: Power-Up Festival 22 Sept
• premiere: Choral Mass (Choir/Orchestra/Trumpet/Organ) commission 23 Nov

2025

• Piaclavi Trio Dunlop/Ziegler/Miller Trio 16 Feb
• Music for Flute & Guitar Jane Rutter, Giuseppe Zangari 9 April Chatswood
• String Quartets + Brass Mosman Music Series 27 April
• MIMA Concert Overture: The Metropolitan Orchestra; Sydney Opera House Concert Hall 12 May
• East-West:Slava & Sharon Grigoryan, Jane Rutter 4 June Chatswood

2026

• conductor, composer in residence & music director: Multiculural Mandolins Melbourne Festival 11-17 January

A plectrum-instrument specialist, Lalor has been guest orchestral soloist with orchestras throughout Australia & abroad, featuring as solo mandolinist on CD releases of the Mahler Symphonies and Prokofiev's Romeo and Juliet (SSO/Ashkenazy), Gelmetti's Cantata Della Vita, and several Opera DVD and CD releases e.g. Don Giovanni (OA) and L'Amour Jaloux (Pinchgut Opera).

He has toured Australia & internationally with the Australian Chamber Orchestra Sydney Symphony Orchestra, Hong Kong Philharmonic and Singapore Symphony.

He has featured on several ABC Classics CDs. His October 2017 performance (electric guitar) with the SSO in Brett Dean's Fire Music at the Sydney Opera House was acclaimed in Limelight magazine (18 October 2018).

Opera House seasons (mandolin/guitar soloist) since 2022 have included Otello, La Juive & Don Giovanni (Opera Australia); Prokoviev's Romeo & Juliet (Australian Ballet) and the Vivaldi Mandolin Concerto at Australian Chamber Orchestra's Nielsen Hall. He was a featured performer (guitar) at the Sydney Opera House New Year's Eve (2024) Concert, followed by electric guitar for West Side Story on Sydney Harbour, ACO Australia tour, Sydney Philharmonia tour (lute/baroque guitar) and Auckland Philharmonia (mandolin). In 2025: guitar for OA Barber of Seville; film & TV recording; and Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra concerts.

He has performed with a range of ensembles & orchestras at all the major Australian festivals, as well as the Edinburgh, Tsaritsyn (Moscow), Bulgakov (Moscow) & Montreux Jazz Festivals as well as Tanglewood (USA).

Dr Lalor's CD Plektra was reviewed by Prof Robert Margo (Boston University) in the Journal of the Classical Mandolin Society of America, August 2014: 'Plektra, a seven-member ensemble, is the brainchild of Stephen Lalor... All of the music on the CD is arranged or composed by Lalor. The playing is highly polished, with very tight ensemble and beautiful sound throughout.'

Stephen Lalor has performed and conducted concerts of his own music at BDZ Eurofest (Europe's major classical mandolin and guitar ensemble festival) and at the 2010 & 2014 BDZ festivals he also performed solo sets of his own music - the only Australian to have been invited to do so.

Former Head of Contemporary Performance at The Australian Institute of Music, he is currently Lecturer in Mandolin at Sydney Conservatorium. For several years he was a permanent staff-member at Sydney's Eora Centre for Aboriginal Studies, Visual & Performing Arts in Sydney.

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Stephen Lalor — current to June 2025