Stephen Harvey Trio

Stephen Philip Harvey is an award-winning, Philadelphia-based saxophonist, composer, arranger, bandleader, and educator whose work bridges jazz traditions with the pulse of contemporary Black American music. Balancing narrative-driven composition with expressive improvisation, Harvey creates music distinguished by its cinematic scope, rhythmic vitality, and melodic accessibility. Trumpeter and composer Sean Jones describes his work as “a beautiful pairing of the complex and the elementary.”

His compositions have been performed by ensembles across the United States and abroad, including the Orchestre National de Jazz in Paris, the National Youth Jazz Orchestra in New York, Peabody Conservatory, Eastman School of Music, the University of North Texas, and New York University. He also collaborated with NEA Jazz Master Roscoe Mitchell on Conversation for Orchestra, performed by the Iceland Symphony Orchestra and the SEM Ensemble. Mitchell describes Harvey as “an exceptional musician with a very bright future.”

Harvey’s achievements include a Chamber Music America New Jazz Works commission, the Distinguished Alumni Leadership Award from Seton Hill University, multiple Creativity Grants from the Maryland State Arts Council, a Jazz Roads Grant from South Arts, and selection for the Jazz Education Network’s Young Jazz Composers Showcase. His educational work has spanned K–12 and collegiate classrooms, national conferences, clinics, residencies, and community outreach. He holds an M.M. in Jazz Studies from Youngstown State University, where he received the Young Scholar Award, and a B.M. in Music Education from Seton Hill University.