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Wednesday, October 4, 2017 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
King leaves Sisters on a grace note
By Emily Woodworth
Correspondent
At the end of September,
award-winning musician,
conductor and instructor
Stephanie King relocated to
her new home in Chestertown,
Maryland, leaving Central
Oregon’s musical culture
appreciably improved through
her talent and influence. King
and her family of five moved
to Sisters in 1999, pursuing a
less hectic lifestyle after 16
years in Portland.
Upon arriving from a
metro area where opportuni-
ties abounded, from accom-
panying at the Oregon Ballet
School to earning her MAT in
Music to performing Grieg’s
Piano Concerto with the
Willamette Falls Symphony
as a featured soloist (a
bucket-list item for her musi-
cal career), she recalls initial
concerns that Central Oregon
would not have the same cul-
tural amenities. “When I first
came, I was worried about
opportunities,” she says. “But
it’s really grown a lot and I’ve
been so pleased to see that
develop.”
King made various contri-
butions to that development.
In addition to teaching pri-
vate lessons and occasional
stints as a substitute teacher,
King taught both band and
choir at Pilot Butte Middle
School from 2002-2005. She
has become a highly sought-
after accompanist for choirs
and music groups in Central
Oregon, including the semi-
professional Bend Camerata,
the Sunriver Music Festival,
and formed long-time rela-
tionships with choir direc-
tors, including former Sisters’
middle and high school choir
director Tara MacSween.
In 2005, King joined the
Episcopal Church of the
Transfiguration in Sisters
as its music director. “They
didn’t have a music director
before I started, so we figured
it out as we went along.” King
recently took a choir of about
25 members on their fifth
international tour, this one to
Québec, Canada. Previous
destinations have included
Germany, Ireland and Austria,
and a 4th of July celebration,
featuring one of King’s origi-
nal compositions, in Pearl
Harbor, Hawaii.
Her musical contributions
as an independent pianist
extend abroad, too. In 2016
she was selected as an accom-
panist for the prestigious
Tuscia Opera Festival and
International Lyric Academy
in Italy, chosen from an inter-
national field of competitors.
She has been invited back for
three straight years, spending
a month each time accompa-
nying for classical musicians
and vocalists.
As King begins her new
chapter in Maryland, she will
again work with an Episcopal
church as music director. In
addition to the historical rich-
ness of her new home, King
is excited about opportunities
afford by nearby Washington
College’s vibrant music pro-
gram. “The whole town comes
together for a two-week inter-
national festival where music
students come on scholarship
to be mentored,” she says.
King plans to host a piano stu-
dent during the festival, and
is excited at the prospect of
being a musical mentor. The
festival offers 35 concerts and
allows community members
to attend rehearsals for free.
“Any time you move, you
have to recreate yourself in
that new context,” says King.
Though she is excited, she
remarks, “I will greatly miss
the friendships and relation-
ships I’ve developed here.”
That said, her training has
prepared her well for adapt-
ing to new contexts. King
started piano at five years old,
and decided to pursue it when
she was 12, after her family
moved to San Bernadino. Just
two years later they moved to
San Jose and she had to adapt
to a new teacher. King ended
up with renowned pianist Aiko
Onishi, who was on faculty
at San Jose State University
(SJSU). Onishi was hesitant
about taking on such a young
student until King proved her
mettle through a six-week
test period with Fantasie by
Chopin. Their student-teacher
relationship extended through
college as King pursued her
bachelor’s at SJSU.
In her program at SJSU,
King learned instruments from
every category (woodwind,
string, brass, etc.) and how to
direct bands and choirs, a very
different experience from solo
performing. “I love accompa-
nying. One of my strengths is
being in sync with the direc-
tor,” she says. “But I also love
The fi x is...
PHOTO BY RICK JUDY
Stephanie King made a mark on Sisters’ thriving music community.
directing because of the orga-
nizational aspects. You have
to listen for the sound you
want, then know how to adapt
and shift it.”
After college, she again
re-created herself in the
context of Portland. She
worked closely as assistant
and accompanist for renown
choral director Charlene
Archibeque, and also served
as creative arts director and
pianist at Greater Portland
Bible Church where she over-
saw all creative media, from
visual arts to music. While in
Portland, King also received
her MAT from Lewis & Clark
College and won the Mu Phi
Epsilon piano competition.
From San Bernadino
to San Jose to Portland to
Sisters, and now onward
to Chestertown, King has
adapted repeatedly to new
musical contexts. In every
new context, she has made
contributions through her pro-
digious skill and upbeat atti-
tude. Those who have worked
with her in Central Oregon
know that their loss will
certainly be Chestertown’s
gain, even as they cherish
the time Stephanie King has
spent enriching the musical
community.
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