Allan Stephenson (15 December 1949 – 2 August 2021) was a British-born South African composer, cellist and conductor.
Life
Born in
Wallasey, near Liverpool, he studied the cello in Manchester at the
Royal Manchester College of Music before moving to Cape Town in 1973 to join the Cape Town Symphony Orchestra.[1][2] He retained the position of associate principal cello until the CTSO closed in 1997.[3] After landing in Cape Town on 13 January 1973, he quickly became involved teaching cello at
SACS, and managed these two jobs until his fiancée Christine arrived from England to also teach at SACS. They were married in July 1973.[4]
He directed the UCT College Orchestra from 1978 to 1988 and taught as a part-time lecturer of both cello and composition at the
University of Cape Town.[3]
A successful and well-known composer in South Africa, he composed one act of the Mandela Trilogy, a three act opera documenting the three stages of
Nelson Mandela's life. Mike Campbell and Peter Louis van Dijk composed the other two acts of this
Naledi award-winning production.[5][6] Stephenson has written over 110 works including a large number of instrumental and chamber pieces, three operas,
two symphonies and concertos for Piano, Oboe and Piccolo.[3] He is also noted for arranging a large number of ballets, including Tales of Hoffmann, La Traviata (adapted for ballet) and Camille for
Cape Town City Ballet.[3] He founded the Cape Town Chamber Orchestra and ran I Musicanti, a string chamber orchestra, for several seasons.[3] He played cello and conducted the
Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra when it accompanied
Cape Town City Ballet.[3]
Stephenson died on 3 August 2021, at the age of 71.[7]
Works
Operas
The dark tale (1991)
Who killed Jimmy Valentine (1995), based on the novel with the same title by South African writer Michael Williams[8]
Animals, based on George Orwell's
Animal Farm and written with Willem van der Walt and Michael Williams.[8]