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Jim Stephenson is a Chicago-based composer whose works have been performed by leading ensembles all over the world, including his Symphony #2, which was recently premiered and recorded by the President’s Own U.S. Marine Band.

JN: Jim, welcome to the podcast!

JS: It’s a pleasure to be here.

JN: Get us up to speed, what’s going on in your world?

JS: You’ve caught me at a whirlwind time. This past week, I was fortunate to have a bass trombone concerto premiered with the St. Louis Symphony, then off to New York for a premiere at Carnegie Hall. Now I’m off to Washington, D.C. where I’ll hear the Marine Band record the Symphony #2.

JN: Not to force you to brag on yourself, but the Marine Band doesn’t just call people out of the blue and ask them to write a major symphony.

JS: I know Jason Fettig. He did a piece of mine a few years back. What I love about him is that he really listens to everything that’s out there. I remember having a conversation with him once and I was telling him about some of my music and he said, “Yeah, I’ve listened to that.” He had been to my site and had listened to just about everything. That’s not something you hear all the time, especially for someone as busy as he is with all the duties they have. So the fact that he came to me and asked to collaborate was pretty cool.

JN: You started as a symphony trumpet player, but you more or less organically grew into a composer. What was the early days like in yoru composing career. What was the process of composing a piece?

JS: I started out as an arranger. I was playing in Naples, FL and I just raised my hand every time someone asked for an arrangement for brass quintet for example. So it turned out well, people seemed to like it. Then I started arranging for the orchestra because Erich Kunzel was the pops conductor. I just got intrigued at the possibilities of what I could create. Different sounds, brass and what not. So it just became a natural progression of arranging other people’s music to trying to write music of my own and arrange them.

In the early days, it was all about discovery. I’ve got nothing to lose, so why not see what I can come up with. It’s always been an excitement about seeing what I can come up with next, so that’s what keeps me going.

I was recently at a recital where 3 pieces of mine were played and one of them was from my early days. Another was from just a couple of years ago. It was interesting to see my creative process coming to life right in front of me. It brought back a lot of fond memories of my roots and how I still try to keep doing it today.

JN: Are you more efficient as a composer today than you were in the early days?

JS: I think the answer is yes because I have to be. I was still a full-time trumpet player, so composing was a side gig. If I needed to take 2 months to write something, I did. Now I have deadlines and I have to stay on task.

JN: Well, let’s talk about the Second Symphony. Was that a deadline imposed by the Marine Band?

JS: There’s essentially a deadline for everything I do, then I just lay it out in my schedule according to those. It can get reather stressful. With the Marine Band, I knew I needed to get something to them by October 1, 2016. They’re like a symphony orchestra. They’re not going to get something in October and then work on it for 2 months before a premiere. They wait until the week of. But they wanted it then, so I started mid to late summer. I think I asked for a two week extension and they said yes, so it all worked out.

JN: How long is it?

JS: It’s about 20 minutes, as they requested. Bands usually want to do other things in their program,