Stefan Cwik began his musical studies in composition and guitar performance with composer/guitarist Dusan Bogdanovic at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music (SFCM). He finished his undergraduate studies in composition at SFCM studying with David Conte. Stefan had the pleasure of attending the European American Musical Alliance summer program in Paris, France. During this time he studied with French Composer Michel Merlet. Stefan attended The Juilliard School in New York where he finished his graduate studies in composition with John Corigliano.

 

Stefan is dedicated to the collaborative process of composition. He held the post of Composer-In-Residence for San Francisco based orchestra Symphony Parnassus, directed by Stephen Paulson who conducts the orchestra and is also the Principle bassoonist of the San Francisco Symphony. Stefan’s orchestral work Concert Dances for Orchestra was premiered by Symphony Parnassus at Herbst Theatre. Symphony Parnassus then premiered Stefan's Concerto For Piano and Orchestra with pianist Scott Foglesong as the soloist. Stefan served as composer-in-residence for Symphony Parnassus from 2016-2018, during which time he had three more orchestral works premiered, including two concertos.

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Most recently Cwik has worked with Brad Hogarth and the Sf Civic Symphony as well as the San Francisco Conservatory of Music Wind Ensemble in premiering his new orchestral work Transfigurations. This work featured animation created by renowned Mexican Artist Eduardo Rodriguez Calzado. The work was received with enthusiasm and sparked another new collaboration with the Camarada chamber ensemble in San Diego. Cwik is composing a new work to accompany the art of Tatiana Ortiz-Rubio (chec back for more deatils on that upcoming show).

 

He has worked with Bassoonist Paula Brusky in premiering his piece Eight Miniatures for Chamber Ensemble (Hommage a Stravinsky), one of the winning pieces of the 2010 BCMCC (Bassoon Chamber Music Composition Competition). His Eight Miniatures was premiered at the 2011 International Double Reed Society Conference (IDRS) and is now published by TrevCo Publishing with a recording under the MSR classics label. He was also commissioned by the ZOFO duet of San Francisco resulting in his piece Acrobats­ for four-hand piano which won the 2013 BMI Student composer award for Acrobats.

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While attending Juilliard, Stefan was chosen as a winner of the Juilliard Orchestral Composition Competition for two consecutive years. His orchestral work Terpsichore was premiered and recorded by the Juilliard Orchestra and conducted by Jeffrey Milarsky at Juilliard’s Peter Jay Sharp Theatre. Terpsichore was given Honorable Mention in the 2012 Minnesota Orchestra Composer’s Institute. The Illusionist, his second piece to win the competition was given honorable mention in the 2013 ASCAP Morton Gould Young Composer awards.

 

Currently, Stefan is a professor of Music Theory and Musicianship at the San Francisco Concervatory of Music. Stefan is a member of ASCAP (American Society of Composer, Authors, and Publishers). Representative examples of his music can be found on the audio/video page of this site,  or can be requested by contacting him via email, Stcwik@gmail.com.