STEVE is a music educator and band director with nearly 20 years’ experience. He is currently a music teacher at Nepean High School in Ontario, Canada. He is the co-director of the Nepean All-City Lab Band, an auditioned advanced jazz ensemble for high school and post-secondary students. Steve is also the Regional Coordinator for Capital Region MusicFest, an Ottawa-area music festival attended by over 4,000 students annually. Steve’s ensembles have earned multiple Gold Standards at both MusicFest Canada: The Nationals and Capital Region MusicFest, where his school jazz ensemble was awarded the Best Jazz Band Award in 2015, 2024 and 2025.

Steve began composing for his jazz ensembles in 2015. Inspired by artists like Maria Schneider, Shai Maestro and Brian Blade, Steve’s compositions are immersive, bending genres by emphasizing lyrical and melodic content regardless of style, while often taking audiences on narrative journeys. His compositions have been performed by Ed Lister and the Prime Rib Big Band, Allison Au, Christine Jensen, Petr Cancura, Mike Tremblay, Brian Asselin, Sam Cousineau and Sarah Ramsay. He has been published by Burnihla Music.

Steve’s bands have performed at the Montreal International Jazz Festival, and perform regularly at the Ottawa Jazz Festival’s Youth Series. His groups have performed at the Canadian Music Monday Showcase at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa, and were invited to perform a feature concert at MusicFest Canada: The Nationals in 2017. Steve was the recipient of the Ottawa Carleton District School Board Fine Arts Recognition Award in 2017. He was the founding director of the Barrhaven Community Concert Band, and is a former co-director of the Ottawa Carleton District School Board Secondary All-Star Jazz Ensemble.

Steve studied trumpet at the University of Ottawa under the tutelage of Eric Rupp, where he obtained his Bachelor of Music degree.  During his studies, he performed with ensembles including the University of Ottawa Wind Ensemble, the University of Ottawa Orchestra, the University of Ottawa Jazz Ensemble, and the Calixa Lavalée chamber choir. Since starting his teaching career, Steve has performed with several ensembles. He competed in the United States and Canada as part of Canada's only competitive drum and bugle corps out of Kingston, Ontario. He performed and recorded as part of the fusion duo, Trumped!, he was a member of the Ottawa-based acapella choir, Harmonic Generation, and he played trumpet in the Ottawa Chamber Orchestra.

A passionate photographer, Steve’s photography contributes to the inspiration behind his works and is featured on the covers of his scores.