Staff Creatives: Page Stephens

Creativity runs high among College of Fine Arts staff members, both in their day jobs in the college supporting our research and educational mission and in their personal lives. The college has an unusually high number of practicing artists, musicians and performers — many of them alumni — on our teams.

Page Stephens (D.M.A., Music, 2023; M.M. 2013) is the assistant director for operations in the Butler School of Music.

How many years have you worked in the College of Fine Arts?

I have a long history with COFA! I came to Austin originally for my master's degree in Vocal Performance in 2011. I worked several jobs as a grad student assisting with events, box office and the facility. In August 2013, I started as the full-time scheduling coordinator for the Butler School. Since then, I've become the assistant director for operations, a role I've been in since 2017. I received my Doctorate of Musical Arts in 2023 from the Butler School. I was grateful to be able to do that and continue working full time.

Describe your creative practice.

I am a singer and voice teacher. I'll use bullet points to try to hit everything!

I teach voice and diction part time at Austin Community College, whose music program is growing like crazy. I often participate in the Composer's Workshop as well, performing and workshopping student compositions.

• I teach voice privately. My students are mainly semiprofessional and professional adults right now. You can catch them in choirs or as soloists all over town.
• As a solo artist, I sing a lot of early music, new music and chamber music around Texas. I've premiered over 30 different works in the last decade and feel strongly about advocating for new vocal music. I've performed as a soloist with groups like Texas Early Music Project, Texas Bach Festival, Density512, SoundMap Ensemble, River Oaks Chamber Orchestra (Houston), Voices of Change (Dallas) and several of our local choirs. I sing fairly regularly with student ensembles and faculty here at the Butler School, and I love that I get to stretch my musical muscles in the same place that I'm supporting on the administrative side. You can find more info about my adventures and some of my professional recordings at pagestephens.com.
• I am a founder of VAMP, a vocal quintet of women. It's the first business I've ever helped launch, and I'm proud of it! We sing a wide gamut of genres, but we are dedicated to performing music by and about women. We've commissioned and inspired several new works, and we're currently in the mixing and mastering phase of our very first album! This summer, we will perform in the 50th anniversary season of the Victoria Bach Festival. Next year, we're cooking up collaborative concerts with Panoramic Voices and Density512. Performing with VAMP is one of the most meaningful artistic pursuits of my lifetime. These women are my family and they inspire me in a million ways.

How did you get started in your creative practice?       

My introduction to classical music was through dance. I studied ballet and modern dance from age 6 through high school at North Carolina Dance Theatre (now called Charlotte Ballet). Those years trained my ears and developed my love for classical music. I sang in choirs since I was young and got serious about studying voice in high school. During my master's degree here at UT Austin, I met several composition students who gave me important opportunities to stretch myself. My work with composers expanded my musical skills and vocal identity; it got my career moving in a direction I never would have seen coming.

Any advice for students as they think about their professional pathways?

I would always question when someone imposes limits on you. There are multiple pathways in music, and while it's right for some to stay narrowly focused (nothing wrong with it!), that isn't right for all of us. Try not to compare yourself to peers who may receive accolades or successes early in their life. Everyone's journey is different, and not everyone starts with the same resources. Perseverance and curiosity about your craft can get you places later in life that you don't see early on. Take care of yourself and your mental health; sometimes, you'll be tempted to sacrifice your well-being to prove yourself along the way, and you'll see over-working get valorized again and again. But if you prioritize your health and well-being, you'll make better professional choices that align with your values as a human being, and you'll show up as the best version of yourself in all your endeavors. And tend your garden of fellow artists whenever you can! Being an artist is a tough profession, and if we support each other, we'll help build the kind of community that can sustain us... "A rising tide floats all boats," as they say.

How do you define success as an artist? How has that definition evolved over time?

I used to think that being able to make my whole living as an artist/teacher would mean success. But depending on where you live or what opportunities arise, that may not be sustainable enough to live a quality life. I know artists who have hustled hard from gig to gig and school to school for years, and they start to burn out and want a different quality of life. Now, I think finding balance is really the metric of success. I'm still looking for it, of course, while I change my professional costume sometimes three times a day....  Today, things that make me feel successful are:

• Singing music that feels great in my voice and body.
• Being compensated for my time and energy (respect!).
• Feeling fed by the other artists I'm working with and learning from them — there can be really magical connection in making sound with someone else.
• Seeing my growth. I can't even count the number of times I've worked on a really challenging piece of music and thought initially, "There's no way I'm going to be able to do this!" And then I get to show time, and I realize that I've climbed the mountain peak and I CAN! It's an awesome feeling.
• Watching my students shine and grow, and even better, watching them learn to love their own voices and feeling good in making art in their own skin.