Stephen Purdy – Alumnus Spotlight
Financial Advisor, Voice Coach, and Conductor for Broadway and touring companies
BM in Music-Piano Performance (1992)
LinkedIn Profile
Stephen Purdy is one of New York’s most in-demand vocal and audition coaches. He is also known as the author of the book “Musical Theatre Song: A Comprehensive Course” published by Bloomsbury and “Flop Musicals of The Twenty-First Century Part I: The Creatives published by Routledge. The former was recently cited as a “major contribution to Musical Theatre Scholarship” by the Journal of American Drama and Theatre and has been universally praised in theatre circles. The latter is part of a three part series. He is on Musical Theatre faculty at Westminster Choir College and Marymount Manhattan College and his international client base of musical theatre professionals have been cast in the Broadway and Touring Companies of nearly every major Broadway musical of the last 15 years and are singing on concert stages worldwide. Stephen conducted and played for the Broadway and touring companies of many popular Broadway and off-Broadway musicals including Disney’s Tarzan, The Full Monty, Peter Pan (Cathy Rigby) and The Fantasticks. He also spent many years in Europe touring with 42nd Street, Grease, and A Chorus Line.” He lives in New York City with wife Kendall and sons Caden and Rowan.
Why did you choose your music major?
I wanted to play piano for musical theatre.
What were some favorite memories from your time at UM?
Barr Hall piano practice 6, 7, 8 hours a day!
Tell us about your educational/career path since UM.
Pianist and conductor for Broadway Shows in NYC, National Tours of Broadway Shows, European Tours of Broadway Shows, Asian Tours of Broadway Shows. Author of “Musical Theatre Song” published by Bloomsbury which the American Journal of Drama and Theatre called “a major contribution to musical theatre pedagogy,” and author of “Flop Musicals of the Twenty First Century” published by Routledge. I am a college professor with Westminster Choir College, Marymount Manhattan College in NYC, and also a Registered Financial Advisor with Ameriprise.
What is the value of studying music in today’s world?
You’ve got to persevere like you’ve never persevered before for succeed in the Fine Arts. Practice. Revise. Practice More. Write about it. Talk about it. Practice more. Revise. No one is ever a “complete” artist, we are always changing and growing. Most of all FIND YOUR UNIQUE VOICE. There is only and will ever only be one YOU so DO YOUR THING LOUD AND PROUD. Above all: control what you can control and LET GO of the rest. Everyone is a critic and everyone has an opinion in the Fine Arts world–and when it doesn’t go your way—- Let it go. Breathe. Try again. Practice Harder. YOU GOT THIS.
