Classical guitar.
Steven Dearing began classical guitar at the age of twenty-one — late by most standards, and the discipline that followed has shaped a thirty-year career. He earned his Master of Music in Guitar Performance at Wayne State University on full scholarship, and from 1995 through 2018 served as Adjunct Professor of Classical Guitar at the University of Windsor School of Creative Arts: twenty-three years training the next generation of Canadian classical guitarists.
As a soloist, Steven performed Joaquín Rodrigo's Concierto de Aranjuez with the Livonia Symphony Orchestra in May 2012, and again with the Grosse Pointe Symphony Orchestra at The War Memorial in Grosse Pointe (covered in The War Memorial’s “Inspired Thoughts” community blog). His solo album, July Recital (2010), surveys works by Roland Dyens, Alexandre Tansman, Lennox Berkeley, and Federico Moreno Torroba. Critics have placed his playing alongside the major Michigan classical guitar tradition.
With Abha Dearing he co-founded the Dearing Concert Duo in 1998, an ensemble that has gone on to win six Detroit Music Awards, record three duo albums (Take One, Snapshots of South America, Romanza), make its European debut at the Cheltenham International Music Festival in 2002, and perform at an Organization of American States event hosted by The Hon. Lloyd Axworthy. He has served as Co-Director of Music Ministry at Birmingham Unitarian Church since 2011, sharing that role with Abha.
Four albums
- July Recital — Steven Dearing solo, 2010 — Dyens, Tansman, Berkeley, Torroba
- Romanza — Dearing Concert Duo, 2003 — DMA win, Outstanding Classical Small Ensemble
- Snapshots of South America — Dearing Concert Duo, 2002 — DMA win, Outstanding Classical Recording
- Take One — Dearing Concert Duo, 2000 — DMA nominee, Outstanding Classical Recording
A representative slice
- 2012 May — Soloist, Concierto de Aranjuez, Livonia Symphony Orchestra
- 2002 — Cheltenham International Music Festival, European debut with the duo
- Pre-2002 — Organization of American States event hosted by The Hon. Lloyd Axworthy
- 1995–2018 — Adjunct Professor of Classical Guitar, University of Windsor School of Creative Arts (23 years)
- 2011–present — Co-Director of Music Ministry, Birmingham Unitarian Church