Steph Richards


Stephanie "Steph" Richards is a Canadian-American composer, trumpeter, bandleader and producer known for her contributions to the contemporary jazz and experimental music scenes. Her multidisciplinary approaches to composition, including her Supersense project for scent and music with Jason Moran, Kenny Wollesen and Stomu Takeishi, have earned critical acclaim. In 2014 Richards was appointed to the music faculty at the University of California, San Diego.

Early life and education

Richards was born in Grande Prairie, Alberta, Canada, and grew up in Calgary, Alberta. She studied music at the Interlochen Arts Academy, the Eastman School of Music, McGill University, California Institute of the Arts .

Career

Upon moving to New York City in 2008, Richards recorded and performed with notable pioneers of the avant-garde, ranging from composers Henry Threadgill, Anthony Braxton, Lawrence D. "Butch" Morris and John Zorn to art-pop oriented artists Laurie Anderson, Yoko Ono, David Byrne and St. Vincent and contemporary composers John Luther Adams, Helmut Lachenmann, Nico Muhly and Louis Andriessen.
As an ensemble collaborator Richards is founding member of Bang on A Can's Asphalt Orchestra and has also worked with the International Contemporary Ensemble, Anthony Braxton's Tricentric Orchestra, Henry Threadgill's Kestra and alongside the Kronos Quartet. As an improviser she has worked with Ravi Coltrane, Jason Moran, Nicole Mitchell, Mark Dresser, Anthony Davis, Vijay Iyer, Tyshawn Sorey, Mary Halvorson, Ingrid Laubrock, Tom Rainey, Gerald Cleaver, Stomu Takeishi, JT Lewis, Tomeka Reid, Kenny Wolleson, Wayne Horvitz, John Hebert, Oscar Noriega, Liberty Ellman and Sylvie Courvoisier. Richards' work as a composer includes interdisciplinary elements including choreography, film, scents and site specific works. As a conductor, she has worked with orchestras in Mexico, Europe and the US employing the musical language of "Conduction," which she gained under the mentorship of the late Butch Morris and J.A. Dino Deane.
The New York Times calls Richards "an emerging maestro of extended technique" and "boldly inventive." Downbeat says that Richards has proven herself "a virtuoso of nonlinear trumpet playing."

Selected discography

As leader

  • Power Vibe
  • Wind Layers
  • Zephyr
  • Supersense
  • Take the Neon Lights,
  • FULLMOON, as Stephanie Richards

    As collaborator / side-artist

  • Pauline Oliveros, James IIlgenfritz, Altamirage
  • Anthony Braxton, 12 Comp Zim,
  • James Carney, PureHeart,
  • Robert Erickson, Duo, Fives, Quintet, Trio
  • Andrew Munsey, High Tide
  • Henry Threadgill, Dirt....and more Dirt, 14 or 15 Kestra: Agg
  • Vinny Golia, Bert Teretzky, Trio Music
  • Resonant Bodies, Thaw
  • Listen Space, Volumes I-IV
  • Deerhoof featuring Cover Band
  • John Zorn, There is No More Firmament
  • Anthony Braxton, TRILLIUM J: THE NON-UNCONFESSIONABLES - COMPOSITION NO. 380,
  • Manfred Werder, 2003
  • John Luther Adams, SILA,
  • Taylor Ho Bynum, Enter The Plustet
  • Joseph C. Phillips Jr. and Numinous, Changing Same
  • Anthony Braxton, Composition No. 46 ,
  • Asphalt Orchestra, Surfer Rosa
  • Qasim Naqvi, Progressive Youth Club
  • Patrick Bower, Pink Room,
  • Mike Kelly, The Judson Church Horse Dance
  • Asphalt Orchestra, Asphalt Orchestra,
  • Ensemble Inauthentica, ''Music from Stanford: 541, Vol.3''

    Video Collaborations

  • Zephyr and Anza
  • Underbelly
  • Brooklyn Machine
  • Gong
  • ''Flow State''

    Awards and recognition

Richards is a Yamaha artist.