Stephen played from the heart but with a welcome lack of affectation and always with his formidable technique used to further the essence of each composer.
Biography
Originally from Sydney, Whale has performed at Australian venues such as the Queensland Performing Arts Centre; Verbrugghen Hall at Sydney Conservatorium; Great Hall at Sydney University; Steinway Showroom, Sydney; and Wesley Performing Arts Centre, Canberra. During his formative years, Whale was also a concerto soloist with the Queensland Orchestra and the Sydney University Orchestra
Internationally, Whale has appeared at festivals such as Bergen International Festival, Norway; Kuhmo Chamber Music Festival, Finland; the International Holland Music Sessions, The Netherlands. Based in New York City since 2014, he was appointed Principal Solo Artist for L'Archet Concert Group for the 2015-16 season, where he performed solo and duo recitals at Cohen Hall, East Stroudsburg University, PA. In the USA, Whale has also performed on the Vaughan Recital Series at Dartmouth College, NH; at the Swiss and Bulgarian embassies in Washington D.C.; Klavierhaus, Mannes Recital Hall, and Elebash Recital Hall in New York City; Sprague Hall at Yale University, CT; and Zoellner Arts Center at Lehigh University, PA. From 2013 onwards Whale has also performed several recitals at venues in Nordic countries: in Norway at the Grieg Museum and Grieghallen in Bergen and at the Kabuso Concert Hall in Øystese; and in Finland at Kangasniemi Hall, Galleria Linnankatu 13, and churches.
Whale holds a Bachelor's degree with Honours from Sydney Conservatorium (Australia), a Master's of Music degree from Yale School of Music (New Haven, CT) and a diploma from the Grieg Academy (Bergen, Norway). Whale's principal teachers have been Boris Berman, Natalia Sheludiakova, Thomas Sauer and Audun Kayser; he has also studied extensively with Claude Frank, Wei-Yi Yang, Steven Graff, Juhani Lagerspetz and Ilmo Ranta. Furthermore, Whale has had masterclasses with pianists such as Stephen Hough and Joaquin Achucarro. He is currently undertaking the DMA program at the Graduate Center, City University of New York, where he was awarded the GC Chancellor's Fellowship. At Yale Whale held a full scholarship, in addition to which he has won various competitions and awards in Australia, including the Henderson Travelling Scholarship, the Coughtrey/Greville Scholarship, the Australian Postgraduate Award and the PPCA Performer's Trust scholarship.
Whale has performed solo recitals in interdisciplinary contexts, such as part of the concert series at Galleria Linnankatu 13, featuring contemporary Finnish art. He collaborates frequently with singers, such as Archie Worley, and has recently performed recitals with violinists and cellists such as Farkhad Khudyev, Domenic Salerni and Richard Narroway. Whale has also played in orchestras, including the Australian Youth Orchestra (2006), Sydney Chamber Opera Orchestra (2012-2013), and Yale Philharmonia (2012).
Alongside piano performance, Whale has a particular interest in tonal voice-leading analysis and the philosophical dimension of musical interpretation; he has studied theory and analysis with William Rothstein and Michael Friedmann. Stephen is currently teaching music theory, ear training and keyboard harmony at Aaron Copland School of Music (Queens, NY); previously, he has taught piano at Yale School of Music and Newington College.