Biography & Specializations of Dr. Steven Porter

Steven Porter was born in New York City in 1943 and earned BS, MA, PhD, and PD degrees in Music and Educational Administration. He did his undergraduate majors in both Piano and Theory/Composition, and subsequently joined the faculty of The Mannes College where he taught in the Theory and Education Departments.

During the 1970s Dr. Steven Porter studied Musical Theatre under Tony-award winner Lehman Engel at the Broadcast Music Incorporated (BMI) Musical Theatre Workshop.

In 1984, Dr. Porter became the Director of Fine Arts for the Binghamton City School District where he founded and ran the Rod Serling School of Fine Arts until his appointment in September 2002 as the Program Director for the Musical Theatre Department of the D'Angelo School of Music at Mercyhurst College in Erie, Pennsylvania.

Dr. Steven Porter began publishing choral music in 1970 for the Norman Luboff Choir and now has over one hundred twenty-five works in print. In addition he has written many books on topics ranging from education and political ethics to the fine arts including The American Musical Theatre, The Essential List of Films for Study, and The Harmonization of the Chorale. He has also published numerous monologues, dialogues, novels, plays, and two full-length musicals.

Dr. Steven Porter has directed dozens of musical productions, including Fiddler on the Roof, Oliver, The Fantasticks, South Pacific, Guys and Dolls, How To Succeed in Business without Really Trying, The Sound of Music, and The Music Man. During his career he has taught courses in the musical theatre, acting, music theory, educational philosophy, and secondary education. He served for four years as the Chair of Secondary School Music for the New York State School Music Association (NYSSMA).

Dr. Porter has served as a clinician for Education and Fine Arts in many states including New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Montana, Ohio, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Texas.

During the 1990s he was asked to be the Democratic Party Candidate for the NY State Senate (district 51), and he served as the Pennsylvania Democratic Party Candidate for Congress (PA-03) in both 2004 and 2006.

Dr. Steven Porter has been married to his wife, Rita, since 1974, and together they have devoted their lives to the puppy raising and retirement of Guide Dogs as well as the rescue of abused and abandoned dogs.

Dr. Steven Porter continues to be an active writer and composer. His passionate recreational hobby is golf.

Areas of Specialization

Music Theory

Dr. Steven Porter was a theory/composition major at Mannes and studied with, among others, Felix Salzer (Heinrich Schenker’s most noted protégé). He taught harmony, counterpoint (both species and fugal regimens), sight-singing, dictation, and analysis at Mannes for 5 years and at the Serling School for 18. He also taught in the theory programs of Queens College and Baruch College (both of the CUNY system). His textbook on chorale harmonization and species counterpoint was published in 1987. His text on Schenkerian Analysis was published in 2002.

Composition

Dr. Porter studied with the composition faculties of Oberlin, Juilliard, and Mannes and with the composers of the graduate music faculty of the City University of New York. His first publication occurred in 1969. Since then, over 125 of his compositions have been published. His works tend mostly to be for chorus, voice, and stage, but he has also written for orchestra, particularly voice and orchestra. His compositions have been and continue to be performed many, many times both nationally and around the world.

Musical Theatre

In the late 1960s, Dr. Porter auditioned for and was accepted into the Broadcast Music Incorporated (BMI) musical theatre workshop. He studied there for two years with two-time Tony Award winner Lehman Engel, and a host of noted playwrights, composers, and lyricists who were brought in as adjunct lecturers. Subsequently he went on to direct over two dozen productions and to write a musical adaptation of Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities. It was first performed in 1991 and was published in 1996. A second full-length musical, The Prairie Man, was published in 2003. His course in the musical theatre has been adopted as a syllabus by the New York State Education Department, and he has taught it since 1980. In 1997 his text on the musical theatre was published. He has also published several dramatic works for the stage and a text on motion pictures.

Secondary Choral Programs

Dr. Porter studied choral music, choral composition, and choral conducting with, among others, Paul Salamonovich, Norman Luboff, Frank Pooler, and Eva Mae Struckmeyer. He conducted secondary school choirs for over twenty-five years. Four times his choirs were selected by the ACDA for ACDA concert appearances. He has been a guest choral clinician in many states over the past quarter century. In 1985 his textbook on secondary choral/vocal methods and materials was published.

Secondary Classroom Programs

Dr. Porter has designed courses in music theory, international baccalaureate music, musical theatre, and general music which have become models in New York State and nationally. His textbooks in general music, theory, and theatre have been in use for almost two decades. He served for four years as the New York State School Music Association (NYSSMA) chair for secondary music. In 1985 his textbook entitled The Secondary Vocal Program was published, and in 2001 a text on secondary methods and materials entitled Teaching Music on the Secondary Level was also published.

Piano

Dr. Porter started studying the piano at age 5 and at 12 won the New York State Concerto competition subsequently touring with the Hudson Valley Symphony performing the Haydn D-major Piano Concerto. At 13, he was awarded a scholarship to Juilliard Prep and during his undergraduate years received piano scholarships to both Oberlin and Mannes (where he studied with Nadia Reisenberg).

Fine Arts Administration

Since 1984, Dr. Porter has been the Director of Fine Arts for the Binghamton City School District. As such, he has supervised the Music, Art, Dance, and Theatre Departments and a combined staff of 50. In 1995 his design for the Rod Serling School of Fine Arts became fully operational, and he became its Headmaster. The school has at any time upwards of 300 fine arts students and since 1995 it has graduated over 400. He has been a fine arts consultant for educational institutions throughout the country, and in the year 2000 the Serling School received a Grammy Award in recognition of its excellence. The award was repeated in 2001.

In September 2002 Dr. Porter began his tenure as Head of the Musical Theatre Department at the D'Angelo School of Music at Mercyhurst College in Erie, Pennsylvania.

Choral Music

Dr. Steven Porter began publishing choral music in 1970 for the Norman Luboff Choir and now has over one hundred twenty-five works in print. In addition he has written many books on the fine arts including The American Musical Theatre, The Essential List of Films for Study, and The Harmonization of the Chorale. He has also published numerous monologues, dialogues, novels, plays, and two full-length musicals.

Director of Musical Productions

Dr. Steven Porter has directed dozens of musical productions, including Fiddler on the Roof, Oliver, The Fantasticks, South Pacific, Guys and Dolls, How To Succeed in Business without Really Trying, The Sound of Music, and The Music Man. During his career he has taught courses in the musical theatre, acting, and music theory (in addition to educational philosophy and secondary education). He served for four years as the Chair of Secondary School Music for the New York State School Music Association (NYSSMA).

Dr. Steven Porter has served as a clinician for Education and Fine Arts in many states including New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Montana, Ohio, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Texas.