Stephen Price
Assistant Teaching Professor (Organ)
Stephen Price teaches organ, church music, and music theory at Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana.
He is a native of Buffalo, New York, serving as assistant minister of music at Pleasant Grove Missionary Baptist Church and organ scholar during his senior year of high school at St. Paul's Episcopal Cathedral. Subsequently, he attended Western Connecticut State University, where he received a Bachelor of Music degree and served as organ scholar at St. Paul's Episcopal Church on the Green in Norwalk, Connecticut. Following his undergraduate career, Dr. Price received a Fulbright Scholarship to Toulouse, France, where he studied "Historical and Modern" performance practices of French Organ Music. Dr. Price then attended the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University, receiving the Master of Music and Doctor of Music degrees under the tutelage of Dr. Janette Fishell. During his graduate studies, Dr. Price competed and garnered awards in several international competitions, including the Franz Schmidt Organ Competition (Austria), André Marchal Organ Competition (France), and the Canadian International Organ Competition (Montreal). Additional teachers and mentors include Marguerite Robinson, Andrew Scanlon, Stephen Roberts, Vince Edwards, Michel Bouvard, Jan Willem Jansen, Bruce Neswick, Elisabeth Wright, and Dr. Wilma Jensen.
After completing his course work at Indiana University, Dr. Price accepted a full-time position as associate director of music and organist at First United Methodist Church, San Diego, California, serving from 2015–17. In 2019, Dr. Price was a performer and served on the jury for the Regional Competition for Young Organists at the Northeast Regional American Guild of Organists Convention in Buffalo, New York. Most recently, Dr. Price was a presenter for the OrganFest 2020 virtual PipeTalk series, titled "A Discussion for New Organ Teachers: Where to Start and How to Proceed?" In the fall of 2020, Dr. Price participated in a new webinar series on teaching, presenting on "Building an Organist Artistry through Literature Choices" sponsored by the AGO's committee on continuing professional education. Concert performances have included venues throughout the Midwest and Alaska.
In addition to his teaching duties at Ball State, Dr. Price is the coordinator for the Sursa American Organ Competition, a National Event started by his predecessor, Raúl Prieto Ramírez. Additionally, Dr. Price serves as dean of the Indianapolis Chapter of the American Guild of Organists and on the Organ Historical Society's Advisory Membership committee and music director at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, New Castle, IN. Recently, Dr. Price co-authored a music appreciation book with his colleagues in the School of Music at Ball State titled, Introduction to Music, published by Kendall Hunt.
The Raven recording label recently released Dr. Price's debut album, Paris Impact Organ Suites, featuring the Goulding & Wood Pipe Organ in Sursa Hall. Dr. Price is represented by Seven Eight Artists Concert Agency.