Charles Stegeman
Morpheus Ambassador
Canadian-born violinist Charles Stegeman performed his first recital at age seven in Banff, Canada, with Boris Roubakine (pianist of Hubay) and debuted as soloist with the Banff Festival Orchestra at age nine. He was awarded a full scholarship to attend the Curtis Institute of Music at the age of 13 where he earned his Bachelor’s Degree by the age of 20. He continued his formal music education at the Juilliard School where he earned a Masters Degree of Music Performance. His teachers include: Esther Glazer, Paul Stassevitch, Ivan Galamian, Nathan Milstein, Jaime Laredo, David Cerone, Paul Makanovitsky, Joseph Gingold, Dorothy Delay, Zvi Zeitlin, Joseph Fuchs, Stuart Canin, and Sally Thomas.
Mr. Stegeman has appeared as soloist with orchestra in North and South America, Europe and Asia. He is sought after as a master class clinician giving classes internationally at La Systema throughout Venezuela, the Beijing Central Conservatory in China as well as in the United States and Canada.
He has appeared as a Columbia Artist performer for 10 years with the Canterbury and Sartory Piano Trios. Other chamber music collaborations include Cynthia Phelps and Carter Brey (Principal Violist and Cellist of the NY Philharmonic, respectively), Zara Nelsova, Peter Salaff (Cleveland Quartet), Jennifer Langham, Gerome Lowenthal (The Juilliard School), Henri Temiyanka, Don McInnes, Ron Leonard (The Colburn School and former principal cellist of the Los Angeles Philharmonic), Nico Abondolo, Richard O’Neill, Paul Coletti, Timothy Cobb (Principal Bass of the Metropolitan Opera of NY), and the Takacs Quartet. A winner of 5 national competitions and 1 international violin competition (CMC in Montreal), Mr. Stegeman averages approximately 50 concerts a year as Concertmaster, Chamber Musician, and Soloist in North America, Europe, South America, Asia, and the Caribbean.
Well known for his artistic vision in the creation of music festivals, Mr. Stegeman has founded, co-founded or advised several festivals including the Western Slope Music Festival (now the Crested Butte Festival in Crested Butte, CO), the Sunflower Music Festival (Topeka, KS), Buzzards Bay Music Festival (Cape Cod, MA), and Music Fest Midwest (Kansas City, KS). He also has served as Concertmaster at international festivals such as the St. Barth’s Music Festival in the French West Indies, the Music Academy of the West (2000-2003), the French/American Chamber Ensemble in the Cher Valley, France (1991-1997), the Canadian National Repertory Orchestra in Hamilton, Ontario, and the FEMUSC Festival in Santa Catarina, Brazil, where he is still active presently. He has been involved in the raising of millions of dollars to support classical music at his festivals and is an avid commissioner and performer of music of our time. He serves on numerous boards that promote chamber music and the musical arts.
For 25 years, Mr. Stegeman was Chair of Strings at Duquesne University and from 2001-2015 Distinguished Visiting Scholar at Azusa Pacific University (Azusa, CA). He holds the position of Concertmaster of the Pittsburgh Opera, the Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre and is the Concertmaster of Andrea Bocelli’s West-Coast Tours, a position he has enjoyed for the last 15 years. He is a frequent featured performer of the On the Bluff Chamber Music Series with guest artists such as Donald McInnes, James Campbell, Anne Martindale-Williams (Principal Cellist of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra), Randolph Kelly (Former Principal Violist of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra), and Andres Cardennes (former Concertmaster of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra).
A recipient of many awards, grants, and scholarships for his various activities, Mr. Stegeman has also recorded on Sony Classics and is published in Chamber Music America. Regularly heard on NPR, he plays a Nicolo Gagliano violin dated 1776.