Steven Cowan

Described as “an elegant musician whose strong, crisp sense of rhythm under-pins his colourful interpretations” (American Record Guide), the Canadian guitarist Steve Cowan has performed throughout Canada, the United States, Europe, and New Zealand. International highlights from recent seasons include concerto performances with Ensemble Del Arte (Germany), the Christchurch Symphony Orchestra (New Zealand), and two solo albums with HR Recordings (Spain).

As a chamber musician, Steve performs regularly with Forestare, a Montréal-based string ensemble. His duo with guitarist Adam Cicchillitti has premièred 21 new works and released an album of Canadian music titled FOCUS (Analekta, 2019), which won Classical Recording of the Year at the 2021 East Coast Music Awards. Their next recording, Impressions intimes (Analekta, 2021), features original arrangements of Debussy, Ravel, Mompou and Tailleferre. As of 2022, Steve is also the newest member of the renowned Canadian Guitar Quartet.

Steve has won awards at ten national and international competitions, eight of which are first prizes. Most recently, he won First Prize at the Tallinn Guitar Competition in Estonia, making him a EuroStrings touring artist for the 2021 season. Also a distinguished teacher, Steve has given public masterclasses at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam, the Royal Danish Academy of Music, the University of Victoria, the New Zealand School of Music, and more.

Originally from St. John’s, Newfoundland, Steve Cowan holds degrees from Memorial University, the Manhattan School of Music, and McGill University. His teachers include Sylvie Proulx, David Leisner and Jérôme Ducharme. Since 2019, he has been a guitar instructor at the Schulich School of Music of McGill University.