Stephen W. Pratt was a member of the IU Jacobs School of Music faculty from 1984 to 2018 and currently is Professor of Music Emeritus. From 2005 to 2018 he was Professor of Music (Wind Conducting) and Director of Bands, personally conducting the internationally renowned Indiana University Wind Ensemble. In addition to his administrative responsibilities as department chair and service on many Jacobs School of Music and Bloomington campus committees, he taught graduate conducting and wind band history in the Wind Conducting program. His appearances with the Indiana University Wind Ensemble over the years included a showcase concert at the New York Wind Ensemble Festival in Carnegie Hall, the CBDNA national conventions in Nashville, Tennessee, and Ann Arbor, Michigan, as well as a CBDNA divisional convention in Normal, Illinois, the Music Educators National Conference (now NAFME) national convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and the American Bandmasters Association national convention in Indianapolis.
After he succeeded his mentor and colleague, Ray Cramer, as conductor, the IU Wind Ensemble presented premieres or commission premieres of a number of works, including compositions by Samuel Adler, James Beckel, Robert Beaser, Kevin Bobo, William Bolcom, Steven Bryant, David DeBoor Canfield, Chia-Ying Chang, Eric Ewazen, David Dzubay, Don Freund, David Maslanka, Cindy McTee, Michael Mower, André Previn, James Primosch, Joel Puckett, Andrew Rindfleisch, Chris Rutkowski, Michael Schelle, James Stephenson, John Stevens, Kevin Walczyk, David Ward- Steinman, Dana Wilson, and Gregory Youtz.
He was the conductor of the Bloomington Symphony Orchestra from 1995-2000, leading the ensemble successfully through its 30th Anniversary season. During his tenure the orchestra expanded in size, premiered several compositions, and helped open its new concert home, the Buskirk-Chumley Theatre. Guest artists with Pratt and the BSO included, among others, Corey Cerovsek, Leonard Hokanson, Howard Klug, Dominic Spera, John Winninger, Diane Rivera, Deanna Hahn Little, Sara Caswell, and the Bloomington Chamber Singers. A founding member of the Bloomington Pops Orchestra, he also appeared as a guest soloist and a guest conductor several times.
Prior to his appointment to the IU faculty in 1984, he taught for several years in the public schools of Sturgis, Michigan, taking his Sturgis HS Symphony Band to a number of convention and festival performances. In 1993, he was a national recipient of The Distinguished Service to Music Medal awarded by Kappa Kappa Psi, the national collegiate band honorary organization. In 1998, he was honored with the Outstanding Bandmaster Award by the Gamma chapter of Phi Beta Mu. In 2001, he was honored with the Outstanding University Music Educator Award, given by the Indiana Music Educators Association. In 2014, he was awarded the James B. Calvert Outstanding Music Educator Award. In 2017, he received The Paula A. Crider Outstanding Band Director Award from the national council of Tau Beta Sigma, and in 2018 he received the Outstanding Hoosier Musician award from the Indiana Music Education Association.
Professor Pratt is in constant demand as a guest conductor, clinician and adjudicator of bands and orchestras across the nation. He is a member of the American Bandmasters Association, the College Band Directors National Association, the National Band Association, the World Association for Symphonic Bands and Ensembles, the National Association for Music Education (MENC)/IMEA, Phi Beta Mu, and the Indiana Bandmasters Association. He has served as president of the Big Ten Band Directors Association, the Indiana Bandmasters Association, and the North Central Division of the College Band Directors National Association. His graduate conducting students (MM, DM, PhD) hold prominent positions at some of the leading colleges and universities in the United States and internationally, as well as at outstanding high schools and academies.
He holds degrees from Indiana University and The University of Michigan. Recordings of his ensembles include many performances available from online sources, as well as CDs made with the IU Marching Hundred, the Bloomington Oratorio Orchestra, the Bloomington Pops Orchestra, recordings from convention appearances and a compilation CD released by Mark Records of the IU Wind Ensemble in 2018 – Live! From the Jacobs School of Music.
He is married to Darlene, a clarinetist and former band teacher/conductor who holds two degrees from the Jacobs School of Music and is a former president of the IU School of Music Alumni Association. They have two children, Abigail and Nathan, both of whom are honors graduates of the IU Jacobs School of Music.