Tracks from "Beautiful":
STEPHEN BARNETT - composer, arranger, keyboards, vocals
CHRIS BARNETT - acoustic/electric guitars, vocals
ED KOLLAR - acoustic/electric bass
ALEX VITTUM - drums, percussion
KORI WITHERS - vocals
DARIUS SMITH - vocals
BRIAN McTEAR - producer
MICHAEL ARQUILLA - lyrics
Tracks from "Free Spirit":
JOSEPH THALKEN - piano
"Trichinosis":
STEPHEN BARNETT - keyboards, trombone
BILL ROBERTSON - drums, percussion
Influences
The Beatles, Ben Folds Five, Jeff Buckley, Billy Joel, Elton John, Pink Floyd, Radiohead, Rufus Wainwright, Brian Wilson, Frank Zappa, Hair, Hedwig & The Angry Inch, Jesus Christ Superstar, Rent, Tommy
Sounds Like
The love child between Hedwig and Ben Folds, conceived on Billy Joel's piano in a downtown cabaret, while Brian Wilson quietly watches from the corner, listening to Radiohead on his iPod.
Stephen Barnett is a classically trained pianist and composer/songwriter who received his B.A. in Music Composition from Duke University and his M.F.A. in Musical Theatre Writing from NYU's Tisch School of the Arts. As an undergraduate, he studied under the tutelage of composers Stephen Jaffe and Scott Lindroth, and in 1999, Stephen released "Free Spirit," a collection of neo-classical piano works composed during his study at Duke.
While pursuing his Masters at NYU, Stephen's teachers included Mel Marvin, Bill Finn and Michael John LaChiusa. His thesis musical, "Beautiful," received its Off-Broadway premiere in August, 2005 as part of the NYC Fringe Festival, and in 2004, he and lyricist/bookwriter Michael Arquilla released the Original Concept Recording of "Beautiful," produced by indie rock producer Brian McTear. Tracks from both albums are available for download at the iTunes Music Store.
In 2006, Stephen provided the music preparation for Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park's production of Stephen Sondheim's "Company" (which ultimately transferred to Broadway). That same year, his work was showcased at the premier fundraising concert for ASTEP (Artists Striving to End Poverty) at the Triad Theater, with musical direction by Mary Mitchell Campbell.
Currently, Stephen is holed up in the recording studio, plotting his next diabolical incarnation.
Coming Summer 2009… New Music! Character Blogs & Videos! & The Jazz Hands Across America Campaign A National Campaign to Bring Show Choirs Together in Harmony
