Stephen was born in Bungay, Suffolk in 1959. Being fed a diet of English sacred choral music as a chorister in the local church and at the same time being surrounded by his brother's record collection, Stephen's musical development was nurtured by Stanford and Vaughan Williams in one ear and Black Sabbath and Rick Wakeman in the other. These musical extremes continue to influence Stephen’s work and are, consciously or otherwise, assimilated into his compositions.

Early on in his career Stephen spent his time exploring many compositional genres, but eventually ended up in various Rock and Pop bands playing synthesizers and bass guitar. This led rather circuitously to composing music for television documentaries and adverts, a melting-pot world of different styles and disciplines that remains an influence in many respects.

From there Stephen moved back into the world of classical music as a record producer and editor, for a time working in both capacities for Simon Rattle, and as an editor for the top conductors, soloists, and orchestras in the UK and abroad.

In 2008 Stephen wrote, produced and directed his first short film “Is Anybody There?”, the production of which represented the fulfilment of a life-long ambition. The film went on to win “Best Director” at the Rob Knox Film Festival in June 2009.

Stephen now divides his time between composition, filmmaking, music editing, and conducting.