Steven Paxton
Steven Paxton (b. 1951) is an American composer, music editor and conductor. He has taught music in colleges and high schools in Texas and New Mexico, and currently enjoys his retirement in Austin, Texas. Paxton has received awards and commissions from the National Endowment for the Arts, Nevada Music Educators Association, Wurlitzer Foundation, Lubbock Youth Symphony, and the LaCrosse Chamber Chorale. Long active in musical theater as well as concert music, he has been musical director for productions at Texas Tech University, Santa Fe Performing Arts and Santa Fe Playhouse. He was accordionist for Santa Fe Opera productions of Wozzeck and Vanessa, and Composer-in-Residence for the Nebraska Shakespeare Festival in the 1990s. His opera Bellini’s War was premiered at Texas Tech University in 2001. Paxton earned a Ph.D. in Fine Arts from Texas Tech University in 1981, and holds both his Master’s and Bachelor’s degrees in music composition from the University of North Texas.
