Scholarship and Biography

Daniel Stepner is the first violinist of the Lydian String Quartet, a recitalist, a private teacher and a chamber music coach. He is also Artistic Director of the Aston Magna Festival, which does summer concerts at Brandeis, Bard College and Simon's Rock College. He was a Preceptor in Music at Harvard Universtiy for 21 years, was concertmaster of the Handel an Haydn Society Orchestra for 24 years, and a founding member of the Boston Museum Trio at the MFA for 30 years.

Honors

As member of Lydian Quartet: Pew Charitable Trust/Chamber Music America grant to commission composer Lee Hyla for new work
Pew Charitable Trusts (United States, Philadelphia), 1988
As Lydian: Best Chamber Group of the Year
Boston Herald, 1989
As Lydian: Chamber Music America Commission Grant
Chamber Music America, 1989
As Lydian: Artists-of-the-Year
The Boston Globe, 1990
As Lydian: Best Record of Year
The Boston Globe, 1990
As Lydian: Meet the Composer/Rockefeller Foundation/AT Jazz Program Commission
Rockefeller Foundation (United States, New York), 1991
Grant
Aaron Copland Fund for Music (United States, New York), 1992
Award for Adventuresome Programming in Chamber Music (as Lydian String Quartet)
American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (United States, New York) - ASCAP, 1992
As Lydian: Best Contemporary Recording ("The Quartets of John Harbison")
The Boston Globe, 1992
Grant
National Endowment for the Arts (United States, Washington D.C.) - NEA, 1999
Top Classical Performance Award for 2005, Lydian Spring Quartet
The Boston Globe, 2005
Excellence in teaching award
Harvard University (United States, Cambridge), 2008

Organizational Affiliations

Professor Emeritus of the Practice of Music, Department of Music, Brandeis University

Artistic Director, Aston Magna Music Festival, Aston Magna Foundation (United States, Great Barrington)

Past Affiliations

Preceptor in Music, Harvard University (United States, Cambridge)

Member, Boston Museum Trio, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (United States, Boston) - MFA

First Violin, Lydian String Quartet

Education

Yale University
D.M.A.
Yale University
M.M.A.
Northwestern University
B.M.