Stephen began his musical studies while as a student at the NSW Conservatorium High School. He studied clarinet and saxophone with Neville Thomas and piano with Beryl Potter. While as a student at the Newcastle Conservatorium he studied clarinet and saxophone with Clive Amadio (a founding member of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra). He is a graduate of the NSW Conservatorium of Music,  where he studied clarinet with Donald Westlake (former Principal Clarinet of Sydney Symphony Orchestra) and Gabor Reeves (former Head of Woodwind Department, Sydney Conservatorium of Music). He also gained an A.Mus.A. in clarinet and piano, studying piano with Neta Maughan. He has performed with the Seymour Group, Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra, Sydney Elizabethan Trust Orchestra, Melbourne Philharmonic Orchestra, Queensland Pops Orchestra, Brisbane Chamber Soloists, and many other freelance solo, chamber and orchestral commitments. He was coordinator of Woodwind and Bands at Sydney Grammar School for many years and lecturer in clarinet at the NSW Conservatorium of Music before moving to Brisbane.

He has taught at a number of private schools in Brisbane. Stephen is currently Director of Co-curricular Music, Director of Bands and Teacher of clarinet and saxophone at Somerville House. He has also been a lecturer of clarinet and saxophone at the Queensland University of Technology. Stephen is a Senior Woodwind Examiner with the Australian Music Examinations Board. He also served as a committee member of the AMEB Queensland State Executive Committee for many years. Stephen was appointed as the National Syllabus writer for the 2007 Clarinet and Saxophone AMEB Syllabus Review. He is also the Consultant Editor for the AMEB Clarinet Grade Books Preliminary to Fourth Grade Series 3 as well as the AMEB Clarinet Technical Workbook 2008 edition.

He has been an adjudicator and clinician for many competitions, eisteddfods and workshops, including Enoggera Eisteddfod, Grafton Art Fest, Queensland Youth Music Competition, Wynnum Manly Eisteddfod, Fraser Festival, Gold Coast Tropicarnival, International Music Festival, Cairns Youth Orchestra, Department of Education MOST and Fanfare programme, Stanthorpe Eisteddfod, Kingaroy Eisteddfod, Toowoomba Eisteddfod, and Australian Music Teachers Association. Stephen has a strong skill base in Music IT systems and software. He has a strong working knowledge of Music publishing and recording programs through his work in music publishing and recording. He has also been a conductor and tutor for a number of youth music organizations, including Sydney Youth Orchestra Association, MacGregor Summer School, Pan Pacific Music Camps and Queensland Youth Orchestra. He was President of the Queensland Clarinet and Saxophone Society Inc. for many years. In that time he initiated, along with Floyd Williams, the publishing of the  Australian Clarinet and Saxophone Magazine. He was also the Administrator for successful National Clarinet and Saxophone Conferences held in Brisbane. He was again the Administrator for the 2006 AUSTA National String Conference.