Stephen Michael Newby is a native of Detroit, MI. He received his BA in vocal music education and flute performance from Madonna College in Livonia, MI. His MM in jazz composition and arranging was earned from the University of Massachusetts. There his studies in composition were under the supervision of Robert Sutton, Frederick Tillis, Jeff Holmes and Robert Stern. He completed his DMA in composition at The University of Michigan. There he studied with William Albright, Michael Daugherty, George Wilson, Fred Lerdahl and Pulitzer Prize winners William Bolcom and Leslie Bassett. His compositions have earned him awards such as The National Endowment of the Arts Grant- Continental Harmony 2005 for Saint Paul, Minnesota; Continental Harmony 2000 for Newport, Rhode Island; the King County Arts Commission of Washington Grant, 1995-1996; the Distinguished Dissertation of the Year Award at the University of Michigan in 1995 for his "Symphony" Let Thy Mercy Be Upon Us, A Tribute to Martin Luther King, Jr. as well as the Rackham School composition Award for A Significant Change for Orchestra (1993); the Rackham School fellowship for Ethnomusicological Research in Dakar, Senegal, West Africa 1988-1990; the John Wesley Work III National Composer's Competition in 1988 for his work Be Still and Know a gospel/jazz oratorio. He is an ASCAP composer/publisher of many different musical styles and traditions including West African, Western European, Jazz, and Gospel. His works have been performed by; The Cascade Youth Symphony, Seattle Symphony, Ann Arbor Symphony, Canton Symphony Orchestra, New Haven Symphony, Savannah Symphony and the New World Theater Orchestra. H. Robert Reynolds and The University of Michigan Bands commissioned him to compose two new works for Band and Choir, which premiered in 2000. He has worked with gospel choirs, vocal jazz ensembles and traditional choral groups for more than 30 years. He served as Assistant Professor of Composition and Computer Arts at the University of Michigan from 1990-94.