Steven Crino is a composer that seeks to tell relevant stories through emotionally rich and intimate music. His music has been described as “stunningly beautiful, heartfelt, lush, and delicate.” He has written three award-winning operas, countless songs, choral music, chamber music and orchestral music. His third opera, Six Autumns on the Hudson, just received its world premiere this past fall. Steven actively seeks out collaboration with living writers and interdisciplinary artists. He is a co-founder of The Circus Opera Company, an organization that synthesizes opera and classical music with dynamic circus arts. The company recently premiered Steven’s first circus opera, The Tire Swing, which was the winner of the Five Star Awardfor the 2024 Philadelphia Fringe Festival.
In addition to the numerous soloists who have commissioned Steven’s music, his works have been performed and premiered by New Opera West, The Podcast Opera Company, The Boston New Music Initiative, The Temple University Singers, The Silk Ruby Trio, and the Philadelphia Experimental Theatre Ensemble. Steven's Acro Piano Duet was recently premiered at the Kimmel Center as part of the Philadelphia Orchestra's "Orchestra After Five" pre-concert series. Steven has also been recognized by competitions around the world. He is the winner of The Aural Compass Projects’ Emerging Composer Competition, the 3rd International A.D. Kastalsky Choral Music Competition, and the 3rd place winner in the 2021 American Prize. He is also the recipient of the Ada Arens Morawetz Memorial Award in composition, the Richard M. Duris Scholarship for Excellence in Classical Music, an Extraordinary Talent Award from the Rodrigo Landa-Romero International Piano Composition Competition, and multiple grants from the Peabody Institute of Johns Hopkins University.
Steven is an adjunct faculty member at the Boyer College of Music and Dance of Temple University, where he teaches courses in Music Theory and Music History. He received his Doctoral Degree from the Peabody Institute, where he also completed degrees in Composition (M.M.) and Theory Pedagogy (M.M.). Steven includes among his mentors Michael Hersch, Kevin Puts, Omar Thomas, Benjamin C.S. Boyle, Ildar Khannanov, Kip Wile, Alexander DeVaron, and Jan Krzywicki. He is currently based in Philadelphia.