Claudia Stevens (born 1949) is an American musician, performance artist and librettist. Initially a pianist specializing in contemporary music, she is recognized for creating and performing widely an array of interdisciplinary solo performance works, and for her collaborations with composer Allen Shearer as librettist of twelve operas.
Claudia Stevens was born in Redding, California on May 29, 1949 and attended Vassar College, graduating summa cum laude with the Frances Walker Prize in piano performance.[1] She studied piano with Leon Fleisher, Arie Vardi and Leonard Shure,[2] receiving the DMA from Boston University in 1977. She also attended the University of California at Berkeley (MA in musicology, Alfred Hertz Fellowship, 1972) and twice was a fellow in piano at the Tanglewood Music Center. In 1977 Stevens joined the Music faculty at the College of William and Mary, where her papers and an archive of her original works and recordings are housed.[3] Stevens' piano performances[4] focused on new music, with recitals in 1979 and 1981 at the National Gallery in Washington, DC in honor of Roger Sessions[5] and Aaron Copland.[6] Her 1983 Carnegie Recital Hall concert honoring Elliott Carter was sponsored by the New York Composers' Forum. Stevens commissioned over twenty American composers, including Shulamit Ran, Samuel Adler, Robert Xavier Rodriguez, Andrew Imbrie, Allen Shearer, Sheila Silver, Betsy Jolas, Ellen Taaffe Zwilich, Jeffrey Mumford and Vivian Fine, to contribute new pieces for those recitals, also performing them in Dallas[7] and Boston's Jordan Hall. Most of the compositions, including two of her own, were published in the journal Perspectives of New Music.
In 1985 Stevens launched a career as a musical and dramatic solo performer, creating a repertoire of some twenty original works, first in collaboration with composers including Vivian Fine in The Heart Disclosed (1988)[8] and Fred Cohen in An Evening with Madame F (1989), which was televised and presented in performance continuously for twenty-five seasons.[9][10] By the 90's, portraying Felice Bauer in Felice to Franz (1992)[11][12][13] and multiple characters in Playing Paradis (1994),[14][15] Stevens was composing both music and text. A Table Before Me (1999) [16][17] and In the Puppeteer's Wake (2000), of which Baltimore Sun theater critic J. Wynn Rousuck wrote, "Claudia Stevens is a performance artist adept at using the unlikely to unearth unexpected truths,"[18] drew on Stevens' Holocaust-related family history. Dreadful Sorry, Guys (2001), one of three works published by Andrei Codrescu in his poetry journal Exquisite Corpse, dealt with hate crimes and homophobia. The Poisoner on the Train (2004) was staged by Baltimore Theater Project to commemorate the World Trade Center terrorist attacks.[19] Blue Lias, or the Fish Lizard's Whore (2007), about fossil hunter Mary Anning, explored controversies between science and religion. Its presentations around the Charles Darwin bi-centennial included the Cleveland Museum of Natural History. Flea (2008)[20] and Pigeon (2011),[21] about naturalist Miriam Rothschild, dealt with human-animal relations. Pitch (2012), a memoir about musical awakening; Red Currants, Black Currants (2013), about Irene Nemirovsky's last months; Teaching Moments (2015) and Fragments Shored Against Ruins (2018), about Beethoven's failed idealism, were created for Sonic Harvest in Berkeley.
In collaboration with composer Allen Shearer, Stevens created librettos for twelve operas:
Archives of Stevens’ papers and original works: Claudia Stevens Papers, 1967-continuing, Swem Library Special Collections, College of William and Mary: Series 1: Claudia Stevens’ papers as pianist and in the commissioning and advocacy of music of the second half of the twentieth century, 1966-2003 (includes Roger Sessions and Elliott Carter commissioning projects); Series 2: Works of Claudia Stevens as interdisciplinary performer, writer, composer, playwright and librettist, 1986 - continuing. Audiovisual collection in Manuscripts mss. 1.04 includes audio VHS and DVD recordings, radio and television broadcasts.[3] University of Richmond, Boatwright Library: Claudia Stevens' papers and memorabilia re performances of "An Evening with Madame F," 1989 - 2006 Aaron Copland House: Papers devoted to Stevens' commissioning project honoring Aaron Copland, 1980–81.